Caught in his own trap

Nashik police contemplate bribery charges against Ram Rao Patil, as he offered to bribe Buta Singh's son to get out of a fraud case

Nashik police contemplate bribery charges against Ram Rao Patil, as he offered to bribe Buta Singh's son to get out of a fraud case

Ram Rao Patil, the man who trapped Buta Singh's son Sarobjit Singh in a bribery case, may now be in even deeper trouble than before.

The Nashik police are contemplating charging the civic contractor, who already has a fraud case against him, with a bribery case as well.

IN TROUBLE: Ram Rao Patil and Sarobjit Singh

Nashik police officials who have been waiting in Mumbai since Monday to formally arrest Patil in the Rs 10 crore fraud case (box) said they plan to question him about the case he filed against Singh while he was absconding.

They pointed out that Patil was the one who offered to bribe the Singhs to get him out of the fraud case. The cops now suspect he entrapped Singh to avoid his own arrest.
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Assistant Commissioner of Police Subhash Thorat, who has come to Mumbai from Nashik, said, "Along with the fraud and atrocity case, Patil will also be questioned in the bribery case."

A Nashik police officer, who did not wish to be named, explained, "Patil was the one who contacted Dr Anup Begi, the president of Akhil Bhartiya Safai Majdoor Congress and a close aide of Buta Singh, to get him out of the case, as the fraud case had been filed on Begi and Singh's instructions.

Begi then acted as the middleman. He put Patil in touch with Singh and then arranged the meeting with Sarobjit." Thorat too confirmed that Patil was the one who got in touch with Begi.

The source added, "We need to question him, as the bribery case is connected to our case. He must have even tried other means to get out of the case."

Bad track record

And Patil's track record is not helping his cause. Sources claimed that Patil used to get all sorts of clearances as a municipal contractor from the Nashik Muncipal Corporation because of his political connections. Three years ago, the NMC blacklisted him for a fraud.

Police are collecting all his past records, as he is notorious for getting out of trouble by exploiting his connections and had been giving them false assurances about surrendering himself.

Case Status

Though the Nashik police nabbed Patil in Cuffe Parade on Monday, they had to wait for their turn to arrest him, as the CBI was questioning him for his role as complainant in the bribery case.