In a major embarrassment for the police department, the Chandra Layout police have arrested a head constable working in their station for stealing ₹10 lakh from a realtor during his arrest recently.
The accused Mahendra Gowda has been booked for theft and remanded in judicial custody. The accused has been suspended from service by the jurisdictional DCP.
The police said that Mahendra Gowda had caught Lingesh, a relator from Channapatna and his associates with the unaccounted cash ₹50 lakh. Lingesh had come to the city allegedly to exchange demonetised currency. They were intercepted by Mahendra Gowda and his colleagues. While Lingesh and others were taken to the station, Mahendra Gowda stole ₹10 lakh from the bag and sent it to his house, before reaching the station.
Lingesh and others were booked under various sections of KP act and released on station bail. When Lingesh got to know about the missing sum, he filed a complaint with the senior police officer suspecting the role of Mahendra Gowda.
Based on the complaint, the police questioned Mahendra Gowda who eventually confessed to the crime. He was arrested and the stolen cash was recovered.
This is the third such incident reported in the last one week where police personnel were involved in corrupt practices. A few days ago, five policemen including two PSIs and three constables were suspended pending departmental inquiry for allegedly robbing a businessman in a case related to a cricket betting racket. In another case, the Lokayukta police trapped a head constable attached to Chikkajala police station red-handed while accepting bribe from a businessman who promised to drop the charges leveled against him in a property dispute case .
