FIR against 37 suspended Mumbai cops

An FIR was registered against 37 Mumbai policemen, suspended after an activist caught them on camera allegedly accepting bribes to turn a blind eye to an illegal structure in suburban Kurla, police said today.

"All the suspended cops were booked under relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Acts last night," Raj Khilnani, Additional Director General of Police (ACB) said.

The officer also said that his team has been working to complete the investigations at the earliest and also ask for fast track court to conduct the trial.

Cracking the whip on corrupt policemen, yesterday the Maharashtra government placed 37 personnel of the Nehru Nagar police station, including the office in-charge Dhananjay Bagayatkar, under suspension following a sting operation carried out by activist Kasim Khan.

The sting operation showed men in uniform accepting money, with some of them brazenly haggling with Khan over the amount to be paid.

According to Khan, his friend got a contract of renovation work at a man's house at Thakkar Bappa colony in Kurla and policemen of Nehru Nagar wanted money to allow him to proceed with the work after municipal authorities had stopped it for want of necessary clearances.

When his friend told him about the demand, Khan suggested him to direct those policemen to him. He then installed a spy camera on which he recorded footage of the police personnel accepting bribe.

The episode came days after the collapse of an illegal building at Mumbra in adjoining Thane district which claimed 74 lives and left many injured.

A massive demolition exercise has been launched in Thane after the collapse, the worst such incident in Maharashtra.