Greater Noida: Three policemen ‘extort couple & hotel owner’, suspended

GREATER NOIDA: Three policemen have been suspended for allegedly blackmailing a couple who had booked a hotel near Pari Chowk and extorting Rs 50,000 from the property owner after detaining him at the local police outpost for a few hours.
A team led by Akhilesh Dixit, the in-charge of the Pari Chowk police outpost, had searched the hotel on Tuesday, when the Prime Minister was visiting Aligarh.
The young couple were found in one of the rooms.The youth was allegedly beaten up by the cops and brought to the police outpost along with his friend. The owner of the hotel was dragged to the chowki too.
Head constable Rajendra Singh and constables Sachin Baliyan and Ankit Kumar allegedly asked the couple to pay up Rs 10,000 each if they did not want any action against them. Their family members were called to the police outpost and the two were let off allegedly after the money was paid.
“The cops then turned to me and demanded Rs 1 lakh. Dixit, the chowki in-charge, left after this,” the owner said in a video that was widely circulated on social media.
After repeated requests, the cops allegedly scaled down their demand to Rs 50,000. The hotel owner allegedly paid Rs 30,000 to the cops and was put in the lock-up after he pleaded inability to cough up the remaining amount. Around 1am, he claimed, he was made to call his brother, who arrived at the chowki and paid the remaining Rs 20,000.
“I requested the cops to let me go, but they wouldn’t listen. When I gave the reference of my relatives, they beat me up. I was let off after paying Rs 50,000. I want this corruption to end and all the four cops suspended. I have all the evidence against them,” he said, adding that he received a call late that night from one of the cops seeking reconciliation.
The three cops were suspended after another video — shot by the friend of the hotel owner who had accompanied him to the chowki — was uploaded on social media. In this video, Rajendra purportedly tells the hotel owner, “You are the biggest culprit who is sitting with his eyes wide open. When someone comes, everything has to be checked. At least, we will manage…” This is followed by a flurry of cuss words and the hotel owner’s friend, who is recording the incident, is asked to keep the phone in his pocket.
As the video grabbed eyeballs, an inquiry by ACP 1 (Greater Noida) Praveen Singh was ordered. The three constables were found guilty and suspended.
“They were brought to the police chowki because the hotel was running without any registration. The chowki in-charge left after that and the head constable let off the youths. However, it has been found that there was some exchange of money. The exact amount cannot be ascertained now,” Singh said.
According to the senior officer, the hotel owner and his friend were running the property even after a spa owned by them at another location was sealed recently.