When was the last time a bunch of people including a police official gathered around you to sing and clap for your birthday? Well, history-sheeter Danish Sheikh got lucky with the senior inspector of Jogeshwari police station participating in his birthday celebrations.
However, this did not end well for Mahendra Nerlekar- the Mumbai police officer who has now been transferred to the West Control Room as punishment for taking part in a birthday cake-cutting ceremony of a criminal.
The action was initiated after the video of the celebration went viral where Nerlekar was seen feeding cake to the history-sheeter Danish Sheikh. The short video clip reached the Zonal DCP Maheshwar Reddy and other senior officers following which immediate action was taken.
The video was shared by Mumbai BJP leader Kirit Somaiya after which several people mocked the incident. Taking a jibe at the sorry state of Mumbai police and Maharashtra government, Somaiya Tweeted, “Birthday of MAFIA Don celebrated at Jogeshwari police station. Thackeray Sarkar’s Police Crime Branch, Sachin Vaze involve in VASOOLI. Mumbai police takes SUPARI to kill Mansukh Hiran. Home Minister Maharashtra & Commissioner of Police accuses each other of taking Haptas Bribe.”
https://twitter.com/KiritSomaiya/status/1415543111560818690?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwInquiry initiated against Nerlekar
Commenting on the incident, a police officer said, “Nerlekar attended the birthday cake cutting in uniform and both he and Shaikh, were captured feeding cake to each other in the housing society’s office.”
The video is reportedly from two weeks ago which went viral only recently. Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP S Chaitanya informed a departmental inquiry has been initiated against Nerlekar.
Nerlekar justifies his actions
Claiming this to be an old video, Nerlekar as per media reports said, “It is an old video. I had gone to that housing society to see some demolition work going on, but some senior citizens there insisted that I visit the society office. I went there, but I was not aware that Danish was also present there with a cake.”
Additionally, Shaikh, a history-sheeter has been booked in several criminal offences including rioting and attempt to murder. He was arrested by the Jogeshwari police in 2018.
The police in Maharashtra do seem to have a thing about birthday celebrations of criminals. In an earlier incident in October 2020, cops at the Vasai Visar police station were seen cutting cake and celebrating the birthday of history-sheeter. Before that, in 2019, two police sub-inspectors and three constables were suspended for celebrating the birthday of a history-sheeter. The cops were reportedly celebrating the birthday of a criminal named Ayaan Khan alias Ulla.