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Suspended cop, aides booked for extorting ₹30,000 from Ludhiana resident
Accused posed as STF sleuths, threatened to implicate 22-year-old victim, a Ludhiana resident, in a drugs case
A suspended police constable posing as a special task force (STF) official, and his three accomplices, on Saturday allegedly extorted ₹30,000 from a 22-year-old after threatening to implicate him in a drug related case.
Daresi police have registered a first information report (FIR) against the accused identified as Inderjit Singh of Police Colony, Jamalpur, Jatin Sharma of Guru Market of Samrala, Ranjit Singh of Vijay Nagar and Ravi Kumar following the statement of the victim, Dhruv Kumar of Bal Singh Nagar.
The complainant told police that he was on his way to Kailash Nagar to buy gold earrings for his mother on her birthday at the time of the incident.
Upon reaching street number 9, Bal Singh Nagar, he was stopped by the accused. The accused, posing as STF officials, accused him of supplying drugs and forcibly took the money while frisking him.
The accused then took him to Tajpur Road Bridge on the pretext of questioning and later threatened to implicate him in a drugs-related case before fleeing from the spot with the money. The complainant then informed the police about the incident.
Sharing details, sub-inspector Kuldeep Singh, station house officer at the Daresi police station, said soon after receiving the complaint, police initiated an investigation.
A case under sections 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been lodged against the accused at Daresi Police station and a hunt is on for their arrest.
The teams are currently scanning through closed-circuit television (CCTV)s and to trace the accused.
The SHO added that Inderjit Singh is already facing trial in criminal cases. He and another constable had been arrested for robbing people after setting up fake check points at various parts of the city in August last year. He was suspended by the senior officer. He is currently out on bail.
