An assistant sub-inspector of police was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 18,000 in Jamshedpur on Tuesday afternoon to exonerate an Odisha businessman from a criminal case.
A team from the anti-corruption bureau, led by DSP Amar Pandey, found cash in ASI Vasudev Mehta's pocket at Sidhgora thana in the steel city following a complaint from Mohammed Sheikh Ayub Hussain, a resident of Mayurbhanj district in the neighbouring state.
Mehta (58), who had also threatened to implicate Hussain in a false case, will be produced in a special court in Chaibasa on Wednesday.
According to DSP Pandey, the Odisha businessman had sold his SUV (registration number JH-05J-5301) to one Sheikh Usman, a resident of Badampahad in Mayurbhanj, on August 11 last year. The police control room in Jamshedpur found the same SUV involved in a crime under the jurisdiction of Sidhgora thana in September.
"A hunt began for the SUV and its owner, and Sidhgora police chanced upon a Golmuri resident who was witness to the transfer of vehicle papers between Hussain and Usman. He was summoned to the thana and grilled. Investigating officer ASI Mehta asked him to send Hussain (original owner of the SUV) to the police station," Pandey said.
A week ago, Hussain visited Sidhgora thana. Mehta allegedly confiscated the businessman's hatchback car and it papers, asking him to bring the SUV to the police station if he wanted his car back.
"The businessman pleaded that he had no idea where his buyer (Usman) kept the SUV or whether it was involved in any crime, but ASI Mehta threatened to charge him if the vehicle was not produced at the thana. Finally, the officer said he could go lenient on the case if Hussain paid him Rs 25,000," Pandey said.
After some haggling, the deal was struck at Rs 18,000. However, the smart businessman lodged a complaint with the bureau's commissionary office in Sonari.
"We set up a team. Instead of smearing the notes, which were of Rs 2,000 denomination, with chemical, we noted down the numbers. As soon as the ASI took the cash this afternoon, we raided the thana and arrested him," the DSP added.
