Balurghat, May 9: A sub-inspector attached to the Balurghat police station was placed under suspension today on charges of dereliction of duty and corruption.

The superintendent of police, Balurghat, Kalyan Kumar Mullick, issued the suspension order against Ganesh Sharma after interrogating him. According to police sources, a large consignment of copper wire was smuggled out of Bangladesh into India yesterday. Sharma, after receiving a tip-off, went to the Kamarpara area and caught the smuggler red-handed.

The sources disclosed that Sharma had intercepted a mini-truck carrying copper wire worth about Rs 7 lakh. The load was bound for Calcutta They added that after accepting Rs 1 lakh, Sharma regularised the papers of the smuggler.

However, the police chief came to know about the incident through his own sources and stopped the truck from leaving the area. The vehicle was brought to the police station and the accused detained.

Today, Mullick went through the papers Sharma had tampered with and after being convinced about the sub-inspector’s guilt, placed him under suspension pending a departmental inquiry.

Mullick did not elaborate on what Sharma did exactly. “There were some irregularities in the way the officer had functioned and that is why he has been placed under suspension,” said the police chief.