He was under the scanner for death of hawker during a raid.
The state Criminal Investigations Department (CID) is all set to give a clean chit to assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Vasant Dhoble in the death case of a 40-year-old hawker Madan Jaiswal at Vakola in Santa Cruz (West), Mumbai on January 11, this year.
The final report of the inquiry will be submitted to the state home department in the next couple of days.
Additional director general of police (state CID) SP Yadav said, “In our investigations, we have found that Dhoble had no role in the case. He did not even step out from his vehicle during the raid. Moreover, the post-mortem report revealed that the man died due to cardiac arrest.” When asked about when will the final report be submitted to the state government, Yadav said, “The CD which has the recording of the raid has been sent to a Kalina-based Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) to check whether it was being tampered with. Once we got the report from them, we will submit our final report to the state government. It is expected to come in a couple of days.”
The case
According to the CID reports, on January 11, Dhoble and a team of policemen conducted a drive against illegal hawkers in Vakola. The hawkers were driven away, but as soon as Dhoble left the area, most hawkers returned to their respective spots.
Soon after, a word went around in the market that Dhoble has returned back to the area. Hearing the news, scared vendors started running helter-skeltor. In the chaos, fruit vendor Jaiswal collapsed near his stall and died while being taking to hospital.
Protests
Death of Jaiswal had sparked protests by hawkers, who alleged that Dhoble had beaten some of them including Jaiswal and the attack led to his death. Congress MP Priya Dutt and legislators Baba Siddiqui voiced their supports for the hawkers and called for Dhoble’s arrest.
Following which, Dhoble was transferred from the Vakola division to the main control room.
Meanwhile, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan ordered the probe in the case to the CID.
Investigations
During the investigations, the CID officers collected CCTV footage from the nearby area. “A report in this regard will be produced before the CM and home minister RR Patil. The CM will decided whether Dhoble will be reinstated to his old position or not.” Officials added that the CM has promised to rehabilitate the ACP to the Vakola division if he gets a clean chit.
Post-mortem
Dhoble did not even step out from his vehicle during the chaos that ensued in the area.
The statements of the hawkers revealed that he did not beat or chase any of them.
Post-mortem report of Jaiswal reveals that he died due to cardiac arrest.
No injury mark found on Jaiswal’s body.
About Dhoble
Fifty seven-year-old Dhoble originally hails from Pargaon (Shingave) in Ambegaon taluka in Pune, about 70 km away from the city.
Dhoble is usually armed. Mostly with cameras and a hockey stick.
Many believe that Dhoble is keen to enforce archaic laws. It’s just not his mission but also his style that has enraged Mumbai. He carries a camera to film people found violating relatively minor laws.
His track record in police has many blemishes, but a patina of political patronage has protected him. He was suspended in 1989 for accepting bribe in Pune. In 1994, he was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and was also fined a lakh for his role in a custodial death. He was dismissed from the force but was reinstated in 1996, after his jail sentence was dismissed by the Bombay High Court.
Before the special service branch, Dhoble was posted with the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha Security.
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