Dhanbad, Sept. 11: Officer in charge of Sadar police station here Dharikshan Ram was suspended today by home minister Sudesh Mahto.

Mahto announced at a news conference that he had recommended the suspension of the officer in charge because he procrastinated the lodging of an FIR against a contractor on the complaint of a district engineer of the Zila Parishad.

The minister alleged that the OC received a complaint from the Zila Parishad on August 4, but he lodged the FIR only on September 8.

Ram, in his defence, has claimed that the complaint received on August 4 from the district engineer of the Zila Parishad was incomplete as the name and address of the complainant were not mentioned.

Ram told The Telegraph that he was being persecuted because he lodged an FIR against the district engineer of Zila Parishad, Bhagwan Singh, and the deputy development commissioner (DDC) of Dhanbad, J.P. Singh, for demanding commission in the payment of bills to the contractor.

?I did it for better police-public relations. The complainant had produced documents supporting his claims,? Ram said.

The controversy relates to hitch in payment of bills for repair work by the road departmentally executed by the Zila Parishad in 2000-2001.

The work was departmentally executed through junior engineer Dharmendra Mishra and a contractor, Rana Uday Pratap Singh, supplied the material.

Uday Pratap has accused the DDC of demanding commission of 25 per cent. ?The case of forgery against me is fabricated,? he said.

DDC J.P. Singh said he had informed the police superintendent the day the complaint was lodged by the Zila Parishad. ?He may have forgotten it,? Singh said.