Faridabad ASI held for taking ₹20,000 bribe to quash alleged rape complaint

Anti corruption bureau said the ASI demanded ₹2 lakh and later agreed to accept ₹1 lakh in three instalments from the lawyer, who approached the ACB

A police officer was arrested at Tigaon police station in Faridabad on Saturday for allegedly accepting a ₹20,000 bribe from a lawyer to not register a rape case against the latter’s relative in an alleged elopement case, Haryana State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) officials said on Sunday.

Police have arrested the two men accused of the Faridabad assault, one from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Madhya Pradesh. (HT Photo by Subhash Sharma)

The accused, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), was posted at Tigaon police station. An FIR was registered against him under Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the ACB police station in Faridabad, and he was arrested with the bribe money from inside the station premises.

ACB officials said the complainant is a lawyer whose relative had eloped with a woman from Rajasthan and married her. The couple was living in the lawyer’s neighbourhood in Tigaon when the woman’s family members from Rajasthan reached the area and created a ruckus on September 10.

Inspector Raj Kumar of the ACB’s Palwal unit said the man alerted the police control room, following which police took the couple to Tigaon police station. “The ASI allowed the woman’s family to take her away even after she had refused to accompany them. Her family submitted a complaint against her husband, alleging that he had raped her,” Kumar said.

“The ASI asked the lawyer to pay ₹2 lakh, promising that no FIR would be registered, but the lawyer expressed his inability to pay such a hefty amount,” Kumar said.

“The lawyer first paid ₹5,000, after which the ASI soon started putting pressure on him for more bribe money. The ASI finally agreed to accept a ₹1 lakh bribe, payable in three instalments, to dismiss the complaint,” he said.

ACB officials said the lawyer subsequently approached the bureau with call and voice recordings that prima facie established his allegations. Following his complaint, the trap was laid, and the ASI was arrested with ₹20,000, officials said.