4 cops suspended for illegally detaining man, extorting Rs 50K

Bareilly: Four constables from Baradari police station in Bareilly were suspended on Monday for allegedly illegally detaining a resident for two days, extorting Rs 50,000 from him and threatening to falsely implicate him in a fraud case.The action follows a complaint lodged last week by Somveer Kashyap who alleged that on May 14, constables Aditya, Rahul, Durgesh and another unnamed policeman picked him up from a roadside dhaba where he had gone to recover money from property dealer Prem Babu Yadav. He said that two days earlier, Yadav and his associates Ravi Patel, Yogendra Patel and Annu had snatched a bag containing Rs 10 lakh from him on the pretext of a property agreement. He alleged that the policemen, on Yadav’s behest, held him for two days in a private quarter and released him only after he paid them Rs 50,000. The policemen also allegedly threatened him with a fake encounter.SSP Arya said, “An inquiry revealed that the four constables had detained the complainant in their private quarter instead of taking him to the police station. This constitutes illegal detention and they have been suspended accordingly.” He added that allegations of Rs 10 lakh fraud have not been verified so far and an investigation is ongoing.