Arrested Delhi cop disguises voice when CBI recorded sample

MUMBAI: A Delhi police officer, arrested last month in a bribery case, allegedly attempted to disguise his voice by altering it when a team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) visited him in a Mumbai jail to record a sample of his voice.

The CBI’s Mumbai unit recorded the voice sample of the accused, police sub-inspector Rahul Malik, after taking the permission of a special court to visit him in jail, where he is lodged under judicial custody. The CBI will seek legal opinion on the next steps on this aspect of the probe, according to agency sources.

Malik, whose bail plea was rejected on Monday, had refused to provide a voice sample earlier, during custodial interrogation, according to the CBI.

While opposing his bail plea, the CBI told the special court, “During voice specimen sample at Central Jail Mumbai, the accused Rahul Malik deliberately tried to change his voice pitch and did not cooperate. He also tried to alter his voice by deepening his voice, and also used a technique to manipulate his original voice. These observations were made by both the panchas.”

The CBI charged Malik for receiving a bribe of ₹2.5 lakh from a Navi Mumbai-based businessman as part-payment in exchange for not arresting him or his relative in an ongoing cyber fraud case. According to the CBI, the investigation has exposed a complex, multi-layered network of individuals facilitating illicit transactions. Hawala operators based in Mumbai, Erode in Tamil Nadu, and New Delhi were allegedly involved in transferring the money for the bribe.

Malik was arrested in Delhi and brought to Mumbai on March 20 after a special court in the national capital granted a transit remand. During the transit remand hearing, Malik challenged the legality of his arrest. He was posted at the Cyber Police Station in Rohini, where the cyber case was being investigated.

The CBI accused Malik of providing evasive replies during his interrogation and also of trying to destroy evidence by discarding mobile phones used by him. He had also allegedly tried to run from the Cyber Cell in Rohini, when he learnt that the CBI team was to question him in the case. It was only after a chase that Malik was eventually nabbed by the CBI.

When the CBI later recovered the two phones Malik had used, the agency found that he had deleted some potentially incriminating messages on WhatsApp, according to the CBI.

The accused has denied the charges against him. Malik’s lawyers told the special court that the complainant is a habitual offender, and the trial is nothing but a ploy to falsely implicate their client, who was investigating him in the case registered with the Rohini Police Station.

The court said the accused has exploited his legal and professional knowledge to collect illegal gratification by avoiding direct involvement.