Seven cops suspended for ‘extortion’, inquiry begins
NOIDA: Seven police officers, including a police post in-charge, were suspended by the commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, on Sunday following allegations of extortion from commercial vehicles.
On Friday, a video on social media surfaced purportedly showing police personnel extorting money from drivers of commercial vehicles coming into Noida from the Kalindi Kunj route. The video was purportedly shot at night but in the audio, a driver was heard telling a police personnel near the Okhla Barrage that more vehicles of the same transporter were coming from behind. In the video, the police personnel purportedly asked the driver to “pay” for them as well. The police personnel could purportedly be heard asking for ₹300 as entrance fees for large vehicles, allegedly saying that it was in accordance to rules.
The police personnel and the driver then purportedly went on to “negotiate” and settled at ₹200. After taking the money, the police personnel allegedly told the driver to leave soon and move ahead.
After the video started doing the rounds on social media, senior officers took cognizance of the matter.
“We got to know about this demand through the video. Among those suspended is the police post in-charge of the Okhla Barrage, under the jurisdiction of the Sector 39 police, and other personnel posted at that post who might have known about the operation. Police deployed at the PRV stationed in that area were also suspended,” said additional commissioner of police, zone 1, Kumar Ranvijay Singh.
He said that the suspension came into effect immediately and that a departmental inquiry in the matter is underway, following which further action will be taken against the police personnel allegedly involved.
Police said that it is unclear at the moment for how long the alleged extortion bid had been going on, whether anyone else was involved in it and how much money was allegedly minted by police personnel in this manner.