The former Inspector of Byatarayanapura station and a middleman have been booked for allegedly recovering money from a theft case in return for monetary benefit and using the seized cash for personal use in September last year.
The incident came to light when the inspector was transferred to a different station and the inspector who replaced him checked for the seized money.
Based on the report, Bharath S. Reddy, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Byataranayapura sub-division, who probed the matter, filed a case against Inspector Shankar Naik G.K. and Lokanath Singh, a middleman, charging them under the Prevention of Corruption Act, criminal breach of trust and forgery on Wednesday, November 22.
Mr. Reddy, in his complaint, said that Lokanath Singh had offered ₹20 lakh to Naik to recover the money stolen by the driver of a businessman. As per the deal, Naik took up the case despite the incident not coming under his jurisdiction by getting the FIR with false details and recovered ₹75 lakh from Santosh, the driver of Harish.
Even though the then ACP directed the inspector to deposit the seized money in the government treasury, the accused inspector misused it until he was transferred in January this year, sources said.
The newly appointed inspector Ninganagowga A. Patil found out that the cash had not been deposited and questioned Naik, after which he came to the station with a bag full of cash and handed it over to the Inspector. The handing over of the cash was recorded on the CCTV camera of the station and some of the currency bundles even had a seal of the bank, which indicated that the cash was withdrawn from the bank.
The inquiry revealed that Naik had not only investigated the case which was out of his jurisdiction but also misused the seized cash for his personal use.
The police have submitted a report to senior officials seeking a detailed probe against the Inspector who was allegedly involved in many other irregularities. The accused inspector, though transferred, had not handed over the charges to his replacement yet, nor did he give details of the cases and seizure and finances of the station.
Recently, a PSI attached to Madiwala was arrested by the CCB for abducting the director of a private company to recover the money at the behest of private parties. The PSI and his associates, a Police Constable and a home guard, were offered cash to recover the money in return.
