The Odisha police have arrested a head constable of the Jigani police station, Bengaluru Rural District police, along with three other individuals, and claimed to have recovered 17.5 kg of ganja, worth ₹1 lakh.
However, the Karnataka police have refuted the claims and said the head constable was part of an investigation and the ganja recovered was a seizure made.
The Karnataka police have now decided to approach the Orissa High Court seeking the quashing of the FIR against the police personnel.
A senior official, defending the arrested constable, said the entire episode was the result of a communication gap between a Karnataka police team that had gone to investigate a narcotics case and the local Odisha police.
The Sarangada police on Friday arrested Anand K., head constable with the Jigani police, along with Sham Kumar, a known peddler, and his two associates, Jayanth Kumar and Naresh Kumar.
The police officer was waiting with the trio for a bus to Berhampura when the local police arrested them. The accused tried to escape but were arrested after a chase, the Odisha police have reportedly claimed.
Mr. Anand claimed that he had come for an investigation and was on the pursuit of a peddler related to a case registered in the Jigani police station.
However, the local police expressed doubts stating that neither were any other policemen with him at the time of the arrest nor had he informed the local police station about his operation.
Moreover, he had no documentary evidence to prove his claim and being a head constable he had no power to investigate a narcotics case and he was in the company of Sham, a known peddler with several cases against him, the Odisha police reportedly argued.
However, senior officials from the Bengaluru Rural District police refuted the claims. “Anand was part of a eight-member team led by an assistant sub inspector who went to arrest the accused involved in a narcotics case registered in the Jigani police station. While the ASI and his team were waiting at a designated place, Anand accompanied by three others including Sham, a peddler, went ahead in search of the accused’s location and recovered the drugs. They were returning to the police station along with the seizure when they were arrested by the local police,” he said.
Mallikarjuna Baladandi, SP, Bengaluru Rural Police, admitted that it was a procedural lapse which led to the confusion and misunderstanding.
The team as per the Criminal Procedure Code should have informed the local police station but did not, which led to the confusion and the arrest.
“The police team had accompanied the peddler since he was aware of the accused’s location and was taken along to help the team,” he said.
A team of officials reached Odisha to clarify the misunderstanding on Saturday. The police will approach the Orissa High Court in Cuttack seeking quashing of the FIR filed against Anand, a senior official said.
However, the case has embarrassed the Karnataka police as this is not the first time that personnel who have gone to investigate cases in other States were arrested by their counterparts.
This July, city police inspector Shivaprakash, with three junior officers, were arrested by the Kalamassery police in Kerala for accepting a bribe from the accused in a cyber crime case.
