Nine Thane cops suspended for negligence during prisoner escort to hospital

Nine policemen in Thane were suspended after a probe found negligence during escort of seven undertrial prisoners to a hospital. Two prisoners went missing temporarily, and officers failed to supervise properly, leading to disciplinary action.

Thane: Nine policemen were placed under suspension in Maharashtra’s Thane city for alleged negligence and dereliction of duty while escorting seven undertrial prisoners for a medical examination, a senior official said.

A probe found several irregularities when the seven undertrials were taken to Kalwa civic hospital on August 4, based on which Deputy Commissioner of Police (HQ-2) Pawan Bansode issued the suspension order, citing the team’s failure to properly supervise the prisoners, which raised suspicions of misconduct, the official said on Friday.

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“A check at the hospital revealed that only five of the seven prisoners were accounted for. One of the prisoners was also left without handcuffs, and a team member was observed talking on his mobile phone instead of attending to his duties. The police team then allegedly misled superiors on the whereabouts of the two missing prisoners identified as Karan Dabhalia and Rajesh Pambar,” he said.

“The team first claimed the duo had gone for an X-ray. However, a check at the X-ray section and surrounding areas showed no trace of them. The team then stated the prisoners had gone to the washroom, but they were not found there either. Later, at 3.50 pm, the two were traced,” the official said.

The order identified the nine suspended police personnel as Gangaram Ghule, Girish Patil, Vilas Mohite, Kishore Shirke, Ashok Munde, Sandeep Kharat, Sunil Nikalje, Bharat Jaybhay and Vikram Jambure.