Ketan Parekh, 2 others allege police torture

MUMBAI: Tainted stockbrokers Ketan Parekh, Kartik Parekh and Jatin Sarvaiya have alleged that they were tortured in custody.
But the police said they were making wild allegations to escape scrutiny and obstruct investigations.
The three were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai police on May 14 for allegedly misappropriating Rs 83 crore from European Investment Ltd, a Mauritius-based company.A metropolitan court had remanded them to police custody until May 22.
On Saturday, the three alleged before additional chief metropolitan B.A. Shelar that they “were beaten up by the police who asked them to toe their line or face prosecution in similar scam cases’’.
They said the police made them stand for hours facing a wall in the lock up and beat them up. However, the accused persons said they could not identify the policemen who tortured them because they were facing the wall.
They also told the court that the police threatened to book them in more scams if they did not sign certain statements. The court is now expected to investigate the charges of police harassment, defence lawyer Pranav Badheka told this paper.
Mr Badheka alleged that his clients were not being provided food on time. “The police department let them have breakfast only after the court ordered it to do so,’’ he said.
Denying the allegations, assistant commissioner of police, R.M. Sarnaik said, “The accused are getting a fair treatment in custody. They are only being put to sustained interrogation,which they don’t want. The accused seem to believe they can escape legal scrutiny by making such allegations.’’
Mr Sarnaik said that the three were taken to the G.T. and J.J. Hospitals for medical examinations, as the court had ordered.
The three brokers, who are directors of Triumph International Finance Ltd, were arrested following a complaint by Briyanand Chaturvedi, attorney of European Investments.
Mr Chaturvedi alleged that in February last year, his firm placed orders with Triumph Investments to sell 5.5 lakh shares of Global Tele and 3.5 lakh shares of Himachal Futuristic.
Ketan Parekh’s firm issued European Investment a cheque of Rs 83 crore for the proceeds, but the cheque bounced.