ACP's relative barges into flat, beats and locks couple in room

The arrested person was identified as Assistant Commissioner of Police (Matunga division) Ravindra Khandagale's brother-in-law Dilip Tambe.u00a0

Following the incident, Khandagale has also come under the scanner, as he is alleged to have intimidated Mulund resident Vijay Kakkad in an attempt to make him vacate a flat sold to him by Tambe. The police said they were now investigating Khan-dagale's role in the matter.

Harassed: The couple Vijay Kakkad and his wife Bhavna were allegedly thrashed and locked inside the bedroom for hours by Dilip Tambe and his associates. Pic/Sameer Markande

According to the police, Tambe went to the seventh-floor flat at Parijat building in Mulund along with seven people, including some women. When Vijay opened the door, Tambe barged into the flat and allegedly started thrashing him and his wife Bhavna. The couple were then allegedly locked inside a room as Tambe and his associates started tearing the place apart.

After three hours of being locked inside, Vijay, on the pretext of wanting to use the toilet, managed to escape and scribbled a message to his brother-in-law, Mangal Anjaria, who in turn informed the police.

Sensing trouble after Vijay's escape, Tambe's associates escaped from the flat before the police arrived, while Tambe, who apparently had the backing of his ACP brother-in-law, chose to stay put at the flat.

"I was having breakfast with my wife when Tambe came with several men and women. They thrashed us and locked us in the bedroom. However, I managed to inform my brother-in-law, who called the police," said Vijay.

Prior to the incident, Tambe had approached the Mulund police to inform them that he was going to break the lock of the flat and hence wanted police protection. But the police had rejected his demand.

"Khandagle even tried to influence the Mulund police once he got to know of the arrest," said a police source.

Disputed flat
Vijay, a real estate agent, had purchased the 420 sq ft flat from Tambe in 2008. The cost of the flat was Rs 28.5 lakh, and he had paid Tambe Rs 10 lakh in cash and Rs 1 lakh by cheque. But he stopped paying the remaining amount as the building society was not providing the No-Objection Certificate to him. Two months ago, Tambe, who has four flats - all are in dispute - in the same building, sold Vijay's flat to a buyer for Rs 60 lakh. Sources said Tambe was trying to vacate the flat using Khandagale's influence.

On November 27, Tambe allegedly threatened the Kakkads that he would get the flat back at any cost. Khandagale also spoke to Vijay over the phone and asked him to vacate the flat, following which Vijay registered a non-cognisable offence against Tambe.

"We have arrested Tambe and booked seven other persons, including Tambe's wife, under Sections 448 (house trespass), 452 (house trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of 50 rupees), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 34 (act done by several persons on common intention) of the IPC," said JJ Jadhav, senior inspector, Mulund police station. Khandagle did not answer calls made to him on his mobile or reply to text messages sent to him. u00a0