JOIN USFollowing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah admonishing the City police for not registering criminal cases and arresting policemen allegedly involved in extortion, the City police have registered criminal cases against a police inspector and three constables who were earlier attached to HAL Police Station.
Hours after Siddaramaiah made caustic remarks and took City Police Commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar to task at the annual senior police officials meet, criminal cases were registered against four policemen, and they were placed under suspension since Tuesday evening.
Inspector Rajesh, then with HAL Police Station and constables Venkatesh, Dinesh and Bheem Singh were suspended on charges of taking bribe from Javed, who was arrested in theft cases two years ago. He is now said to be leading a clean life. But the policemen allegedly harassed him and demanded Rs 3 lakh as bribe.
The inspector was accused of wrongfully detaining Javed, threatening to book fresh cases and fleecing Rs 3 lakh.
Following a complaint Javed lodged with divisional deputy commissioner of police, he conducted an inquiry in which the policemen reportedly confessed to their act.
The commissioner suspended all four immediately.
However, at Tuesday's meet with senior police officials from State, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: “You book criminal cases against the person involved in such cases and arrest the person. Then why have you not done this to the officers involved,” he said adding mere suspending officers is not justification for their offences.
HAL Police registered a case against four police officials for wrongful restraint, confinement and robbery. However, none of them has been arrested so far.
Additional Commissioner (Law and order) Kamal Pant said that arrests would be made subsequently if the investigating officer sees a need for the same.
Two police constables — Sudhakar and Vithala, attached with Cubbon Park Police Station, were suspended and criminal cases of theft and robbery registered against them following a complaint lodged by a Chinese tourist in City.
The two had raided a hotel room on Kasturba Road where a Chinese woman was staying, on a tip-off that she was in possession of Red Sanders wood. However, the woman complained that the two constables harassed her and robbed her of her valuables on Monday.