ACP Vishal Dhume booked for drunken brawl, molestation and stalking could be dismissed from service

AURANGABAD: Senior sources in the Maharashtra police and the State home department today hinted that ACP Vishal Dhume from Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city police who was booked for a drunken brawl, assault, molestation and stalking of a woman could be dismissed from service.

In a swift move, to silence the growing Opposition voices, the government today suspended Dhume, in spite of he managing to get bail from the court on Monday itself after his arrest. This was to avoid a political backlash as all the Opposition parties ganged up on the ruling dispensation.

Officials both and the Police HQ as well as the government hinted that the government wants to take a stern and strict view of the incident and Dhume could be made an example for others in the force.

According to a PTI report, the state home department passed the suspension order of ACP Vishal Dhume and asked him not to leave the city limits without the permission of the police commissioner. However, Opposition leaders gunning for the CM and Dy CM, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the State capital, said the move was a mere damage control exercise and the government was not serious about reiging in crime against women.

The young officer was arrested on Monday, a day after the City Chowk police registered a case against him for allegedly harassing a woman in a car. He secured bail the same day, with restrictive terms that ensure that he did not leave the city. He was also immediately transferred from the Crime Branch posting to another department.

Dhume has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections pertaining to ”stalking, assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty”, the official said.

After Dhume’s suspension, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve tweeted, “I had been to the police station and told police to take action against Dhume. Shiv Sena will take a stand for the security of women.” He belongs to the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena.

Earlier, AIMIM Member of Parliament Imtiaz Jaleel had warned of a “bandh” in Aurangabad on Friday in case of no action against the police officer.

Other politicians too spoke up against the blatant criminal act by a young senior police officer apparently misusing his position.