The four have been booked on charges of extortion and under the Prevention of Corruption Act and are currently absconding, said Circle Officer Sunil Kumar Singh.
The accused have been identified as Sub-Inspector Kulveer Singh, in-charge of the Sahanpur police outpost under Najibabad police station; Head Constable Vijaypal and Constables Gaurav and Upendra.
The Complaint
The complaint was filed by Amjad Majidi, a former pradhan of Pathargarh village and a resident of Panipat in Haryana.
According to Majidi, the four men arrived at his home on the intervening night of November 11-12, around 1:30 am.
Three of them — Gaurav, Vijaypal and Upendra — were in plain clothes, while Kulveer Singh was in police uniform.
They told him that his nephew, Hamza, was wanted in a case of attempt to murder, and a case related to illegal felling of trees in a forest — specifically a ‘khair’ wood theft case.
The family called Hamza outside. Majidi alleged that the personnel then began pushing and manhandling him before forcibly trying to put him into their private vehicle.
Majidi pleaded with them to summon Hamza for questioning instead and assured them he would produce his nephew whenever called. The personnel allegedly refused and asked Majidi to accompany them towards Uttar Pradesh, saying they would discuss the matter after crossing Haryana.
Majidi said he followed the police vehicle in his own car.
“Before reaching Kairana, the policemen stopped their vehicle and demanded Rs 5 lakh to take back Hamza. When I said I couldn’t arrange such a large sum, they asked me to visit the Sahanpur police outpost with the money and warned that Hamza would be sent to jail otherwise,” Majidi alleged.
He offered to pay Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 as expenses, but the policemen allegedly refused and insisted on the full Rs 5 lakh.
They reportedly asked him to reach the Sahanpur police post by 7 am and threatened to send Hamza to jail if he failed to arrange the money.
When Majidi later reached the outpost with two associates, the accused personnel allegedly repeated the demand. They also threatened to implicate Hamza in such a way that he would not get bail even from the High Court.
In a separate detail reported by PTI, Majidi said SI Kulveer Singh gave him the contact number of Constable Vijaypal. When contacted, Vijaypal demanded Rs 5 lakh for Hamza’s release.
Audio Recording and Inquiry
Majidi claimed that his associate Naushad secretly recorded the conversation between him and the policemen on a mobile phone.
The alleged bribery came to light after an audio recording of the demand surfaced on social media. Following this, senior police officials ordered a preliminary inquiry.
Majidi subsequently approached Bijnor Superintendent of Police Krishna Kumar Bishnoi and submitted a complaint seeking action.
The SP said the matter was investigated by Additional SP (Rural) Gautam Rai and SP (City) Dr Krishna Gopal Singh. Upon confirming the allegations, the four personnel were suspended, and an FIR was registered against them.
