Three policemen posted with Ranhola police station in outer district have been arrested from Maurya Enclave for allegedly kidnapping a man, against whom a cheating case was registered in Chhattisgarh, and demanding Rs 1.5 crore from his wife for his release.
Special CP (law and order of southern range) R P Upadhyay said an FIR of kidnapping and extortion has been registered against the three policemen.
“We have zero tolerance against such wrongful activity and have arrested the trio, identified as assistant sub-inspector Sube Singh, head constable Indu Parmar and constable Ajay Kumar,” Upadhyay said.
Police said a case of cheating was registered at Kotwali police station in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari against six persons in September, and five of them were subsequently arrested.
“The sixth accused, identified as Pradeep Pradhan, a resident of Kanjhawala, had been absconding, and was caught by the three policemen on Sunday afternoon. After detaining him, they took him to their associate’s office-cum-home in Uttam Nagar, where they held him hostage. The associate has been identified as Sachin,” a senior police officer said.
Investigation has revealed that the trio asked Pradeep to call his wife, Neha Pradhan, and they demanded Rs 1.5 crore from her for his release. They threatened her that they will get him arrested and also implicate him in a false case.
“After negotiation, they struck a deal at Rs 1 crore with Neha, and she gave Rs 11 lakh to them on Monday evening. They informed her that they will release him only after receiving the whole payment,” the officer added.
On Tuesday, they asked her to come to Maurya Enclave to give the rest of the money. However, Neha came with three of her relatives and told the officers to let her see her husband before making the entire payment.
“They entered into a heated argument which later turned into a scuffle. In the meantime, a passerby made a call to the police control room (PCR) about the commotion. The three accused tried to escape, but Neha and her relatives caught hold of them and made another call to police about her husband’s kidnapping,” the officer said.
Upadhyay said they all were taken to Maurya Enclave police station, where police came to know about their misconduct.
“We have given Pradeep’s custody to Chhattisgarh police. We have ordered two separate enquiries. In one enquiry, DCP (outer) Seju P Kuruvilla will probe the role of SHO (Ranhola) and other policemen. He will also probe the conduct of Chhattisgarh police as they were allegedly found at Sachin’s place. We have also arrested Sachin,” he added.
The SHO has been sent to district lines as punishment and a probe has been ordered against him.