CoP to file report on Triplicane bribery case

Chennai: The State Human Rights Commission issued a notice on Friday to city police commissioner A.K. Vishwanathan asking him to submit a report over the Triplicane bribery case where four policemen attached to the Triplicane police station are accused.

The police officers are facing action for allegedly threatening to register a false case against a kuruvi ( transporter) and extorting money from him. The officers identified as Ashok Kumar, Sunny Laydu, Ananthan and Rajesh of Triplicane law and order station were transferred to the East zone control room on an order by the commissioner.

 Shahul Hameed of Triplicane works as a kuruvi, imports laptops, mobile phones from Malaysia and sell them in the market. The four personnel claimed that Shahul was involved in illegal smuggling and forced him to pay a bribe of Rs 2 lakh even after he produced the actual documents of the products. They also threatened to file a false case against him if he failed to give the money. Hameed gave them Rs 80,000 and a few days later, he also lodged a complaint with Triplicane police against the four officers. A special team was formed and primary investigations confirmed that the police officers took a bribe from Hameed. A few days later, the city commissioner transferred them to the control room, but no case was filed against them.

Taking a serious view of the matter, the Commission issued a notice to the city police commissioner to submit a report within four weeks. The Commission observed that the media had also reported the incident widely. This was not only shocking but also displayed a total lack of responsibility on the part of police and the other concerned officials, it said.