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Booked by CBI for graft, three Chandigarh cops suspended
Used middleman to ask Maloya man for ₹14,000 bribe after threatening to implicate him in case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Three constables posted at the Maloya police station, including the driver of the station house officer (SHO), were suspended on Thursday after being booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for corruption for attempting to implicate Maloya resident Deepak Shani in a false case.
CBI also arrested Rajat of Maloya who acted as a ‘middleman’ and demanded money from Shani on behalf of the constables Nasib Khan, Krishan Malik and Shiv, the SHO’s driver, all from the Maloya police station.
“On allegations of corruption and registration of corruption case by CBI, all three constables posted at Maloya, have been placed under suspension and sent to Police Lines, Sector 26, Chandigarh,” read a Chandigarh police statement.
In his complaint on June 16, Shani accused the three of demanding a bribe of ₹20,000 from him through Rajat and threatened to implicate him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) if he did not pay up.
Shani said initial demand was ₹20,000 on June 15 but later it was settled at ₹14,000.
Shani told the CBI that on June 15 he was on an outing with his friends when two policemen approached them. As they carried sticks he panicked and ran home but a little later, an acquaintance, Rajat, came over and took him to the police beat box close by.
Assaulted, threats issued
Khan and Malik then allegedly assaulted him in the beat box and accused him of selling drugs. Rajat then asked Shani to pay ₹20,000 to the policemen if he did not want to be implicated and after some negotiations a deal was struck at ₹14,000.
Shani alleged that Khan forcibly took ₹4,300 from him, returned ₹300 and directed him to arrange for the rest of the money.
On June 16, Shani informed the CBI, which registered an FIR against Rajat with the three constables under section 120 IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.
Bribe referred to as shoes
In recordings provided to CBI which Shani claimed included conversations between the accused, Rajat and Shiv can be heard referring to the bribe amount as jootey (shoes) and Shani as jootey wala ladka (boy with the shoes).
Rajat had allegedly told Shiv that Shani had arranged for five pairs of shoes and that other pairs would be handed over later (five pairs being equivalent to ₹5,000).
Rajat had previously given CBI the slip
Though the CBI had laid a trap on Wednesday night to nab Rajat while Shani handed over ₹5,000 to him, he (Rajat) had, however, managed to escape. He was not so lucky on Thursday, when the law finally caught up with him.
Rajat, who also sustained injuries while fleeing, was also tested for Covid-19.
He will be presented before the court on Friday.
BOX Taint on khaki
Cases in which men who enforce law broke the rules
November 27, 2019 CBI court awarded four-year jail term to former UT sub-inspector Kulwaranjit Singh Cheema, and a three-year sentence to his aide Subhash Chand Dhiman in a 2012 graft case
September 11, 2019 Chandigarh police dismissed a home guard and initiated a probe against two traffic policemen for allegedly seeking ₹500 a bribe for a from man who violated traffic rules near the Hallomajra light point.
June 18, 2019 CBI arrested assistant sub inspector Bhupinder Singh, the driver of an assistant transport officer (ATO) of Punjab, for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20,000 from a truck cleaner.
June 11, 2019 CBI had arrested head constable Dalbir Singh, deputed with the proclaimed offender (PO) and summons branch of the UT police in Sarangpur, for taking ₹2,000 from a man facing PO proceedings. On November 29, the CBI Court framed charges against Dalbir Singh under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
January 2019 Sub-Inspector Rajbir Singh, who surrendered in January in court, was arrested for taking a bribe from a meat shop employee and a few others after threatening to implicate them in a case of theft. He was suspended after the case came to light.
January 28 2019 CBI arrested the SHO of Mauli Jagran police station, inspector Baljeet Singh, and a constable for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹45,000.
