Guwahati: Three Delhi police personnel from the operations unit were suspended after a video and complaint were received from the Arunachal Pradesh Police, alleging they had accepted a bribe of Rs 12 lakh from a relative of a minister in the north-eastern state.
The incident came to light when the Delhi Police initiated an internal inquiry following the complaint.
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Initially, two of the police personnel were transferred to the third battalion of the Delhi Armed Police.
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However, as the investigation progressed, the seriousness of the allegations led to their subsequent suspension.
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The suspended officers have been identified as Inspector Girish Jain, Sub-Inspector Akhil Kumar, and Assistant Sub-Inspector Rakesh Kumar.
The Delhi Police’s Vigilance Branch will now conduct a thorough inquiry into the matter, and appropriate action will be taken based on the findings.
As per the suspension order issued on July 21 by DCP (Central district) Sanjay Kumar Sain, the three police personnel will draw subsistence allowance during the period of suspension.
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This allowance will be equivalent to half-pay leave, along with dearness allowance and other usual allowances they were receiving on the date of suspension.
The subsistence allowance will be reviewed if the suspension period exceeds three months.
The incident that triggered the suspension involved the Central District police claiming to have busted an interstate auto-lifting gang on July 19.
During the operation, they arrested three individuals, including a 29-year-old native of Arunachal Pradesh.
The gang was allegedly involved in lifting SUVs from Delhi and selling them in northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Manipur.
The vehicles were then tampered with, and their engine and chassis numbers changed before being registered at Regional Transport Offices. The recovered SUVs from the gang were estimated to be worth around Rs 5 crore.
Delhi Police Commissioner, Sanjay Arora, received an official letter from the Arunachal Pradesh Police on July 17, which detailed the alleged misconduct of the Central district police team during their investigation of the auto-lifting case.
The letter accused the suspended officers of taking money from a resident under threat of false implication.
The Arunachal Pradesh police also suspended two of their personnel in connection with the incident.
An internal inquiry was promptly initiated, and Inspector Girish Jain and Sub-Inspector Akhil Kumar were attached to the third battalion. However, after further investigation and examining footage of the incident, the decision to suspend all three police personnel was taken.
They will be restricted to the district headquarters and will not be allowed to leave without prior permission from the competent authority.
While the three were suspended, the police did not reveal who the minister was or who the relatives were.