Police inspector, his friend caught taking bribe by ACB sleuths

A police inspector and his friend were caught red-handed by Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths when they were taking a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a person inside a police station on Saturday morning.

The tainted officer is Raghavendra SR, who is serving as police inspector of Chikkajala police station in Northeast Bengaluru and his friend — also named Raghavendra — is a private individual.

According to a statement released by the ACB officials, a resident of Chikkajala who owns land near the tollgate on the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) Road is the complainant. He had approached ACB officials two days ago and filed a complaint stating that some people had gained illegal entry (trespassed) into his land a few days ago and had removed a board erected by him. After the incident, the complainant had approached inspector Raghavendra to receive his complaint and take necessary action.

Raghavendra had reportedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to receive the complaint and solve the issue. The complainant had paid him Rs 8 lakh a few days ago and Raghavendra was demanding the remaining Rs 2 lakh.

The complainant, however, changed his mind and decided not to pay money to the inspector. He approached ACB sleuths instead. The complainant went to the police station on Saturday morning to pay the bribe. The inspector Raghavendra asked the complainant to hand over the money to his friend Raghavendra. When the complainant gave the money to a the cop's friend, ACB sleuths surrounded them. An investigation is currently under way.

Raghavendra is the second consecutive police inspector of Chikkajala police station being booked for taking bribes. His predecessor, police inspector Yeshwanth, had escaped after allegedly taking a bribe from a complainant when the ACB officials had managed to catch a revenue inspector and a head constable near Chikkajala police station in January this year. The earlier case was also related to a land dispute.

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