3 cops suspended for extorting money from G Noida guest house owner

Greater Noida: Three police personnel were suspended on Saturday after a video in which they were allegedly seen extorting money from a guest house owner in Greater Noida went viral

Greater Noida: Three police personnel were suspended on Saturday after a video in which they were allegedly seen extorting money from a guest house owner in Greater Noida went viral.

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The suspended suspects were identified as head constable Rajendra Singh, and two constables -- Sachin Balyan and Ankit Kumar -- of the Sector Beta 2 police station in Greater Noida.

The victim, Jitendra Solanki, said a couple had checked in the guest house on Wednesday (September 15) night in Sector Beta 2. “The couple, who identified themselves as friends, had told me that they came to Greater Noida to appear for an examination,” Solanki said.

Three police personnel from the Pari Chowk check post came to the guest house to conduct a raid. “They took me and the couple to the police check post and demanded ₹1 lakh to release us, else they would put us behind bars in connection with an immoral trafficking case. The cops also took away ₹30,000 from my pocket,” Solanki said, adding that the cops had also beaten him.

“Later, I called my brother, who got ₹20,000 more for me. They took away ₹50,000 in total from us... Meanwhile, we shot a video of the incident secretly and shared it on social media,” he added.

A police team launched a probe, being headed by Praveen Kumar Singh, assistant commissioner of police (1), Greater Noida, in the matter on Friday.

“Primary investigation shows that the cops had allegedly taken ₹20,000 from the guest house owner’s brother. In case of an immoral activity, the police personnel should have informed senior officials and acted according to the law,” Singh said.

Police have also launched a departmental inquiry against the suspended officials.