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By:

Rajendra Joshi

3 December 2024 at 3:50:26 am

Kolhapur Police corruption broker exposed

Khaki, Black Money - Part 1 Crores allegedly traded for transfers and promotions; seven bank accounts under scanner AI Generated Image Kolhapur: Kolhapur has stumbled upon a rare moment of truth — and possibly a historic reckoning — within the police force. An alleged broker in the police establishment, Satish Panekar, was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) a few months ago for demanding hefty bribes in return for transfers and promotions. After spending time behind bars,...

Kolhapur Police corruption broker exposed

Khaki, Black Money - Part 1 Crores allegedly traded for transfers and promotions; seven bank accounts under scanner AI Generated Image Kolhapur: Kolhapur has stumbled upon a rare moment of truth — and possibly a historic reckoning — within the police force. An alleged broker in the police establishment, Satish Panekar, was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) a few months ago for demanding hefty bribes in return for transfers and promotions. After spending time behind bars, Panekar is now out on bail. Departmental and ACB probes are formally underway, and he is expected to face trial.   Yet, the central question remains deliberately unanswered: who was Panekar working for? Who is the real architect of this racket — the invisible hand that turned postings and promotions into a marketplace?   If that “big fish” is netted, the shockwaves could rattle the upper echelons of Maharashtra’s police hierarchy. This is not merely about one middleman. It is about dismantling a system that has converted the uniform into a licence to mint black money. Whether this opportunity is seized or squandered will determine the future credibility of a police force already battered by corruption.   Big Scandal The Panekar case has now become the most talked-about scandal within the Kolhapur police. He allegedly acted as a broker for transfers and promotions, with a woman police officer accused of identifying and funneling “clients” to him. Officers seeking favourable postings or career advancement were directed to Panekar, where the “rate card” was fixed. Once the payment was made, the desired transfer or promotion allegedly followed — as if by divine intervention.   What was earlier whispered in corridors is now openly discussed: the racket is believed to have handled transactions running into several crores of rupees. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) deputy leader Sanjay Pawar has formally alleged that Panekar parked this illegal wealth in multiple bank accounts held in his and his family members’ names. He has submitted details of seven such accounts to the district police chief, demanding a thorough probe.   The ACB, too, has reportedly sought permission from the Reserve Bank of India to access details of these accounts. If pursued honestly, the coming days could reveal the true scale of black money generated through police transfers and promotions — money extracted under the very authority meant to uphold the law. The biggest challenge, however, remains untouched: the arrest and exposure of the real mastermind.   Suspicion Widens Investigators believe the money collected by Panekar runs into several crores. The locations of the bank accounts raise further suspicion. Unlike ordinary citizens, who typically open accounts close to home, these accounts are spread across branches of nationalised and private banks in areas such as Kasba Bawda, Radhanagari and Gandhinagar. A pressure-free investigation could expose how deeply the police force has sunk into this cesspool — and who has been shielding whom.   The needle of suspicion, meanwhile, points towards a senior police officer in the state. Since Panekar’s arrest, this officer is said to have visited Kolhapur on three occasions. There is talk that the officer even met Panekar while he was in custody at the Rajarampuri police station and stayed in the city for three days. Who is this officer? How much wealth was accumulated during his tenure in Kolhapur?   If Panekar begins to speak candidly before the inquiry committee, these answers may no longer remain buried. But for that to happen, the committee needs more than procedure — it needs protection. Protection that can come only from the Chief Minister himself.

Holy Retreat

The revocation of the land pooling scheme in Ujjain lays bare the limits of political authority.

Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh

Few spectacles test the Indian state quite like the Kumbh Mela. It blends faith, logistics and politics on a civilisational scale. Yet in Ujjain, where the Simhastha Kumbh is due in 2028, the Madhya Pradesh government has discovered that even the most sanctified ambitions can founder on the stubborn realities of land, livelihood and consent.


This week the government quietly but decisively scrapped its land pooling scheme aimed at acquiring 2,378 hectares across 17 villages to build permanent infrastructure for the Simhastha. The move followed weeks of farmer mobilisation, threats of fresh agitation and more tellingly, dissent from within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ranks.


The scheme, unveiled earlier this year, was ambitious to the point of hubris. Unlike previous Simhasthas, where farmland was temporarily acquired for a few months with compensation, the new plan envisaged a permanent Kumbh city. Roads, ashrams, hospitals, underground drainage, electricity networks and government buildings were to rise on what is now agricultural land. An estimated Rs. 2,000 crore would be spent to prepare for an expected footfall of over 12 crore pilgrims, almost double the turnout in 2016.


For Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, the proposal carried personal and political weight. As the MLA from Ujjain South, transforming the temple town into a year-round pilgrimage hub would have been a signature achievement. It would also have aligned neatly with the BJP’s broader strategy of marrying religious symbolism with visible infrastructure.


However, this has run into rough weather with between 5,000 and 8,000 farmer families standing to lose land that has sustained them for generations. Land pooling, with its promises of future development gains, may appeal in urbanising corridors. In sacred geography, where land is livelihood rather than asset class, it looks more like disguised expropriation.


Soon enough, tractor rallies rolled through Ujjain while meetings hardened into threats of indefinite strikes. The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), not a habitual adversary of the BJP, given its RSS lineage, accused the government of betrayal. Its call for a “dera dalo, ghera dalo” agitation from December 26 is a warning shot from within the Sangh ecosystem itself.


The government attempted a familiar manoeuvre: tactical retreat disguised as clarification. On November 17 it amended the scheme, limiting compulsory acquisition to land needed for roads, water and sewage, while exempting other infrastructure. However, the farmers and the BKS saw through it, accusing the government of duplicity.


The final reversal in this episode has been scrapping the town development schemes entirely under the Town and Country Planning Act, which was alter framed as an act of “public interest.” In reality, it was an act of political triage. With state elections behind it but local anger simmering, the BJP chose containment over confrontation.


The episode exposes a deeper contradiction in India’s development politics. The state is increasingly eager to monumentalise religion by building corridors, plazas and permanent infrastructures around sites of worship. But faith-based urbanism often collides with rural India’s fragile social contract. Farmers may tolerate temporary disruption in the name of dharma. Permanent dispossession is another matter.


It also underlines the limits of ideological alignment. The BJP’s long-held assumption that farmer discontent can be managed through cultural affinity rather than economic justice has been repeatedly tested—from the repealed farm laws to localised agitations such as this one. When livelihoods are at stake, symbolism offers thin protection.

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