Rachakonda Police Commissioner Tarun Joshi suspended two constables for withholding seized cash from two men on the night of May 11. The cash, about ₹31 lakh, was eventually handed over to the Income Tax Department. However, the official delinked the suicide of one Ranjith in Chengicherla with the cash seizure or suspension of police officials as is being speculated in news reports.
Explaining the sequence of events, the Commissioner said that on the night of May 11, Armed Reserve head constable K. Krishna and police constable A. Srikanth stopped Sai Kumar and Ranjith. “The two men on their bike were caught at Karimguda crossroads and the cash of about ₹31 lakh was seized from them. Instead of depositing the seized currency, the two constables allegedly retained the cash and also handed a part of it to Sai and Ranjith,” said the official.
“However, upon realising their wrongdoings, we served suspension orders on the two police personnel and recovered the cash and handed it back to Sai and Ranjith. Ranjith promptly handed back the cash and the total amount was submitted to the IT department as per the procedure,” added the official.
“We never detained him or grilled him. He was pulled for interrogation and the cash was recovered from him without much hassle. As per his mother’s statement to the Medipally police, who booked a case about his alleged suicide, he was unemployed and depressed,” clarified the Commissioner.
The Medipally police booked a case and are investigating.
