Extortion case: Probe looks at role of SHO

“The arrested trio, identified as assistant sub-inspector Sube Singh, head constable Indu Parmar, constable Ajay Kumar, and one Sachin, an informer of the Chhattisgarh Police, were produced before a Delhi court Wednesday. The three have been dismissed from service,” a senior police officer said.

Special CP (Law and Order, Southern Range) R P Upadhyay said the SHO had been sent to the district lines as punishment, and a probe had been ordered against him. Two separate enquiries were ordered — to look into the role of the SHO and the Chhattisgarh Police officers.

During investigation, Pradeep Pradhan, a resident of Kanjhawala, told police that a case of cheating had been registered against him and five others at Kotwali police station in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari. Five persons were subsequently arrested. A senior officer said: “At the time, Sachin took Rs 15 lakh from Pradeep, on the pretext of removing his name from the case file and getting bail for his five associates. Pradeep was detained on Sunday afternoon by the three policemen at Sachin’s instance. He was allegedly taken to Ranhola police station, and later to Sachin’s office-cum-home in Uttam Nagar, where they allegedly held him hostage.”

During investigation, it came to light that to pay the first installment of Rs 11 lakh, Pradeep’s wife Neha Pradhan deposited her jewellery with a finance company and got Rs 5.5 lakh. She got another Rs 5.5 lakh from her father-in-law, after Pradeep was asked to call him from his phone.

“Things changed when the trio came to take the rest of the money from Neha in Maurya Enclave, and she came with three of her relatives. She told officers to let her see her husband before making the entire payment and they entered into a heated argument, which turned into a scuffle. One of the officers allegedly pulled out his service revolver, which was snatched by Neha’s relative. A passerby made a PCR call,” an officer said.

Investigation revealed that one of the policemen allegedly called the SHO, and a Daily Diary entry was made saying that Pradeep had been arrested earlier and handed over to Chhattisgarh Police. But the Northwest district police found that Pradeep was with Sachin.

When contacted, the SHO said: “I am not aware of the man’s detention and have never met him. The DD entry was not made by me but by a sub-inspector who did not inform me.”

JCP (Southwestern range) Madhup Tiwari said, “Enquiry is going on… we cannot share more details.” The Crime Branch has taken over the probe against the three policemen.