4 cops held for extorting money from commuters

DHARAMSHALA : Four cops have been arrested for allegedly extorting money from commuters and assaulting them on a highway in the Nurpur area of Himachal’s Kangra district, police said on Wednesday.

The accused have been identified as Punit Kumar, Gaurav, Rajesh Kumar and Arun Kumar.

Kangra superintendent of police (SP) Vimukt Ranjan said, “On Tuesday, complainant Ghanshyam, a resident of Dinanagar in Gurdaspur, had come to visit his relative at Mohtli near Damtal. He was returning home with his friend when the accused cops, who were on a naka duty to check drug smuggling, stopped his car.”

“The cops demanded money from Ghanshyam and his friend and when they refused, the four threatened them with a face narcotic case.”

“The accused took them to a nearby ATM to withdraw money but it was out of cash. The complainant was then taken to a petrol pump where the accused forced him to withdraw ₹4,000 from a Point of Sale Machine,” the SP said, adding that the accused also took ₹5,300 cash the complainant was carrying and got petrol worth ₹500 filled in their motorcycle.

The victims also allegedly that the accused assaulted them.

After the cops let them off, Ghanshyam contacted his relative Mohtli and filed a complaint against the four cops at the Damtal police station. The CCTV footage obtained by the police corroborated allegations levelled by the complainants.

The accused have been arrested and booked under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint), 384 (extortion) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

TOOK ₹5,300 THE COMPLAINANT WAS CARRYING AND GOT PETROL WORTH ₹500 FILLED IN THEIR MOTORCYCLE