In a rare move under Article 311(2)(b) of the Constitution of India, Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla has dismissed two police officers from Mumbai’s Wadala TT Police Station — a senior inspector and a sub-inspector — who were earlier caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for accepting bribes in a dispute case.

Senior Police Inspector Chandrakant Sudhakar Sarode (52) and Police Sub-Inspector Rahul Ramesh Waghmode (37) were arrested by the ACB in September after they allegedly demanded and accepted illegal gratification from a complainant involved in a community hall dispute.

According to the ACB, the complainant, a 59-year-old man, had approached them after the officers allegedly sought bribes to ensure his daughter was not named as an accused in a Thane police case filed by his rival group. PSI Waghmode had allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 for himself and Rs 5 lakh for Sarode, and had already accepted Rs 20,000 on 10 September and another Rs 30,000 later during verification. On 26 September, Sarode was caught accepting Rs 2 lakh — the first instalment of the Rs 4 lakh bribe he had agreed to take — while Waghmode had already collected Rs 30,000 earlier. Both were caught red-handed in an ACB trap in the presence of panch witnesses.

Read more: Senior Inspector and PSI from Wadala TT Police Station in Mumbai held while accepting Rs 2 lakh bribe

Following their arrest, the duo was immediately suspended. However, a fresh dismissal order, issued by DGP Rashmi Shukla, has now removed both officers from service with immediate effect.

The order cites their conduct as “a conscious betrayal of public trust” and states that a departmental inquiry was deemed “not reasonably practicable” due to their influence, intimidation, and “deep-rooted connections” within the police establishment. It further notes that Sarode had a history of previous departmental punishments, including a prior suspension in a 2001 corruption case registered at Nagpur City under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

“Their actions amount to grave misconduct, gross dereliction of duty, and conduct unbecoming of police officers,” the order states, adding that their dismissal was necessary “in the larger public interest.”

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