Ghaziabad: Traffic cop held over graft from auto drivers

Police identified the suspect as Hariom Rajput, 40, who allegedly wanted ₹5,000 per vehicle each month from auto drivers to help them escape facing penal action

Ghaziabad: The anti-corruption unit (ACU) from Meerut arrested a sub-inspector of the Ghaziabad traffic police on Friday for allegedly extorting money from auto-owners operating between Sector 62, Noida and Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad. Following a complaint, a trap was laid and he was nabbed.

The ACU team nabbed Rajput from a booth near UP-Gate and took him to Kaushambi police station where a first information report was lodged by the officials against him under different provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. (HT Photos)

Police identified the suspect as Hariom Rajput, 40, who allegedly wanted ₹5,000 per vehicle each month from auto drivers to help them escape facing penal action.

Ravindra Gupta and Nitin Gupta, the two auto owners, both residents of Khoda colony, approached the ACU with a complaint on December 3 and explained how the traffic sub-inspector (TSI) allegedly extorted money from them or else he threatened to seize their autos.

“All documents of my autos are in order and complete. Still, the TSI demanded money every month. I had to pay up by the fifth day of every month. I was fed up… I approached the anti-corruption unit which gave me December 6 as the date for laying a trap. They asked me to provide ₹10,000 and laced the notes with chemicals. As I reached the traffic booth near UP-Gate, the TSI asked me for money. After I paid, the ACU team nabbed the suspect,” Nitin Gupta said.

The ACU team nabbed Rajput from a booth near UP-Gate and took him to Kaushambi police station where a first information report was lodged by the officials against him under different provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The FIR said that the suspect managed the area from Max Hospital, Vaishali crossing to UP-Gate in Ghaziabad. He called the auto owners under the UP-Gate flyover, and ₹10,000, in marked currency notes, were handed over to him. Several members of the ACU trap team were also present in disguise and they finally nabbed the suspect TSI.

Traffic officials said that they have taken up required actions against the suspect TSI.

“An FIR has already been lodged against him by the ACU and he was arrested. Besides, we have also written for initiation of disciplinary proceedings and also for the process of his suspension,” said Piyush Kumar Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic).