Pune: Kondhwa police on Saturday filed a complaint against a constable and his friend for assaulting a youth from Chennai and his friends, who came to Bopdev Ghat for photography, and extorting Rs 28,000 on the pretext of filing a case against them.The incident occurred between 7 am and 9 am on June 5.The constable posted at Bopdev Ghat help centre was later suspended. Senior inspector Vinayak Patankar said, “We have served notices to constable Vikram Wadtile and his friend Kedar Jadhav, directing them to join the police in the investigation because they were charged with offences punishable up to seven years.”Patankar said the 19-year-old Chennai-based youth, who is the complainant in the case, visited Pune to meet his grandparents. On June 5, the youth and his two friends visited Bopdev Ghat to take photographs and took a hookah pot with them.After a recent gang-rape incident involving a 20-year-old event management student at Bopdev Ghat, a police help centre had been set up there. Wadtile was stationed at the help centre.According to Patankar, “Wadtile questioned the youth and his two friends and searched their bag, where he found the hookah pot. He assaulted them and threatened to register a criminal case even though the victims tried to convince him that the hookah pot was meant to be used as a sprop during shooting of photos. Wadtile then took them to the Kondhwa police station.”The police officer said, “At the entrance of the police station, Wadtile stopped the vehicle and told the youths that they would be taken to Sassoon General Hospital for a medical examination and their future would be ruined.” He initially demanded Rs 25,000 from each of them. When they said they didn’t have that much money, they agreed to settle by transferring Rs 28,000 online to Kedar Jadhav’s account. After receiving the money, Wadtile let them go.“The complainant grew suspicious and came to the police station to verify whether Wadtile was indeed a policeman. “He informed me about the incident. The youth did not know Wadtile’s name but described his physical appearance. I conducted an inquiry, which revealed that Wadtile indeed threatened and extorted money from the youths. After the extortion case was registered, Wadtile and Jadhav returned Rs 28,000 to the youth,” the officer said.Deputy commissioner of police (Zone V) Rajkumar Shinde suspended Wadtile pending departmental inquiry. He said that the cop had been held responsible for tarnishing the image of the police department due to his actions.
