Goa policeman arrested for links with drug dealer
By IANSThursday, March 18, 2010
PANAJI - A suspended senior inspector of the Goa Police was arrested Thursday for links with an Israeli drug dealer.
Ashish Shirodkar, booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, was suspended with four other policemen for links with Israeli Yaniv Benaim alias Atala.
Speaking to IANS, Deputy Inspector General of Police R.S. Yadav said Crime Branch officials arrested Shirodkar. “We will be seeking his police custody soon.”
Shirdokar was earlier attached to the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC), a police unit tasked to counter the drug trade.
Shirodkar was named by Atala, in a spy cam video, as the officer who used to sell drugs seized by the ANC back to the drug peddlers.
The arrested man has also been accused of accepting a bribe of Rs.1 lakh to release a drug peddler.
Atala’s video surfaced on “youtube” earlier this month. In it, he speaks to an unidentified person about policemen linked to the narcotics mafia in Goa.
Two policemen have been arrested and six others suspended in the case.
