Gujarat High Court rejects Jetpur DySP JM Bharwad’s plea against arrest warrant

Source: dnaindia.com

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday refused to provide any relief to Jetpur’s Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) JM Bharwad, who is been missing ever since he was booked by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB), for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 8 lakh for not beating an accused arrested under the Arms Act.

Notably, the sessions court in Dhoraji taluka of Rajkot district on September 18 had issued a non-bailable warrant against Bharwad, which he had challenged before the high court.

However, the state government vehemently opposed his plea and the high court expressed its inclination to reject the DySP’s request to set aside the warrant. Following this, the counsel for Bharwad requested the court for its permission to withdraw the plea, which was allowed.

The lower court had issued the warrant against the DySP as ACB contended that he is absconding ever since the bribery case was registered against him to avoid arrest. It was also contended that the agency had searched for Bharwad at several places, but he could not be traced.

Apparently, the ACB had registered the case against Bharwad and his subordinate, Vishal Sonara, a constable, on August 3 after the later was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 8 lakh on Bharwad’s behalf.

In order to evade arrest in the case, Bharwad immediately moved the sessions court in Dhoraji seeking anticipatory bail. The sessions court, however, rejected the plea on August 14, against which he moved the high court. The high court too rejected his plea on September 5. On August 8, the Ahmedabad traffic police had found Bharwad’s car abandoned in Sola area. The car, which was illegally parked, was not locked and cops found a police uniform inside. Later, it was found that the car belonged to Bharwad.

Bharwad had claimed before the courts that he is innocent and being falsely implicated in the case. He had also claimed that he has no connection with the offence registered with Jetpur police station under the Arms Act and he was not investigating the case.

The missing cop had also argued that he has an “unblemished” service record of 22 years with the police department and has been promoted from a police sub-inspector to police inspector and then as a deputy superintendent of police.