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Lucknow: For the Uttar Pradesh police, it appears, virtually anything can do as a bribe, even shoes.
In UP’s Agra town, a trader was forced to give four pairs of shoes to the cops after he expressed his inability to pay cash demanded by them in exchange for removing his name from an investigation.
According to reports, the cops were investigating a case against the trader and as part of the same, they were supposed to record his statement and submit their report to the senior officials.
The cops approached the trader and allegedly demanded money to write a report in his favour. The trader, however, expressed his inability to pay cash. The cops then asked him to give them shoes in lieu of cash.
The trader allegedly gave them four pairs of shoes, reports said.
The three cops were later suspended after a complaint in this regard was lodged at the ‘anti-corruption’ helpline number, sources said.
According to reports, the ‘anti-corruption’ helpline launched by the authorities in Agra has been flooded with complaints of 'extortion' against the police personnel.
Sources said that the complaints mainly pertained to threats by the cops to implicate people in false cases, including the Gangster Act, if not paid bribes.
A police constable was recently suspended after he allegedly 'extorted' money from a man after threatening to book him in the Gangster Act. Investigations were launched against 10 cops after receiving complaints against them.