“Bhosale was not on escort duty and yet had access to the accused inside the court. We have gone through the CCTV footage from the retail shop. Bhosale had accompanied accused Devidas Sakpal for shopping,” said Additional Commissioner of Police (Local Arms) Vijay Chavan.

According to the probe, Bhosale, who is attached with the Local Arms unit (Marol), had come to the court out of turn.

Last week, while sessions court Judge V D Jadhavar was recording statements of the accused in the alleged Lakhan Bhaiyya fake encounter case involving arrested encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma and several other policemen, suspended constable Devidas Sakpal slipped out of the court, walked into a nearby shopping centre along with a constable. Before stepping into the shopping center, Bhosale handed over his rifle to another constable who then stood vigil outside the entrance. He spent around 20 minutes shopping, and walked back to the court.

This happened without the court’s permission.

In the CCTV footage, Bhosale and Sakpal can be seen moving freely inside the shop. Sakpal also paid for the goods he bought with cash in his pocket. An undertrial is prohibited from carrying money.