Among the recipients tomorrow will be the two Sawants (no relation).

Assistant commissioner of police, D-I, crime branch, Pradeep Sawant gets the award for best detection of the year for solving the 33 lakh jewellery heist at Kothari Jewellers at Gamdevi in June last year.

Sub-inspector, Shirish Sawant of the D B Marg police station will be honoured for the second best detection for cracking a murder mystery of the STD booth operator girl at Grant Road in April last year. TheKothari Jewellers' robbery was not only most sensational but also raised uncomfortable questions for the government and the cops in the Assembly session. Pradeep Sawant who was then ACP, Byculla division, got his first lead when he heard of a `Shankar gang' which had executed a big job at Gamdevi. Meticulous investigation led to several arrests and recovery of stolen property worth Rs 30 lakh. ``It was sheer hard work and interest though that robbery was not even in my jurisdiction,''says Sawant modestly.

Having tasted blood Sawant then ended up solving 13 jewellery heists including five outside his jurisdiction.Similarly, when the D B Marg police reached at the Pacific Communication Centre on April 8, they found 22 year old Sarita Singh in a pool of blood with 18 stab injuries on her body. Except for the presumption that the murder must be the handiwork of a jilted boyfriend, the police had no clue to the identity of the killers.

After a couple of days, when Shirish Sawant went to the nearby Ayodhyahotel for a cup of tea, he learnt that two waiters, Vicky and Harjinder Singh were reported missing since the murder. Sawant came back to the STD booth and checked the last number called from the place. It was a Patiala telephone number. Immediately, a team of officers were despatched to Patiala who traced these boys and arrested them.

The killer duo confessed that they had gone to the booth with the motive of robbery, but when the girl raised an alarm they panicked and killed her. ``It was a chance detection. The hunch that the missing boys, who hailed from Punjab, must have made a call helped me,'' Sawant said.

Police Commissioner, R H Mendonca, who notwithstanding telling statistics always maintains that detection rate is good also had a word of praise for his men. ``These men are getting the award not necessarily for the importance of the case but for their sleuthing skills and efforts involved in the investigation process.''

The best police station award is given to the V P Road police station,while the second best police station is Saki Naka police station. The Vidhan Bhavan police chowkie is selected as the best police chowkie. The award for best police division is given to the Saki Naka division, while the best performance award is given to the SRP police inspector, J K Sangle.

The best traffic division award is given to P-1, police inspector, Yusuf Mujavar. The best technical award is given to DCP, B T Bhalekar of the motor vehicle section. The award for extraordinary work is given to sub inspector, S A Bhandare of Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad.