A police officer attached with the Sadashivanagar Police Station in Bengaluru has been suspended for allegedly tipping off persons accused in a drug case involving former Congress Minister Rudrappa Lamani’s son Darshan. The head constable of the Sadashivanagar Police Station, HC Prabhakar has been suspended for allegedly colluding with the accused and tipping them off as the Central Crime Branch sleuths were on the lookout for the accused, who were caught red-handed with hydroponically-grown marijuana two days ago.
The CCB caught one of the accused in the case -- Sujay outside the Bengaluru Foreign Post Office with 500 gm of hydroponically-grown marijuana on November 9. One gram of the substance is estimated to cost between Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,000 in the market. The CCB learned that Sujay and his associates, Hemanth, Prasid Shetty and Suneesh Hegde -- a real estate businessman and resident of Sadashivanagar -- had allegedly ordered the marijuana on the darknet by paying bitcoins.
While the CCB nabbed Sujay, Hemanth and Suneesh had escaped from the CCB’s net. Sources said that head constable Prabhakar allegedly tipped them off regarding the CCB’s plan to arrest them after they nabbed Sujay.
CCB sources said that Hemanth fled to Kodagu, his home town, due to fear of being arrested. While Suneesh and another accused Prasid Shetty had fled to Goa. Hemanth, who is a friend of Darshan Lamani, allegedly called him from Kodagu, seeking his help.
Darshan Lamani allegedly asked Hemanth to travel to Haveri, by promising him that he would be safe. Hemanth and Darshan lamani allegedly stayed at a lodge in Haveri town, before the duo travelled to Goa. They met up with Suneesh and Prasid in Goa, the CCB source said.
“The accused kept moving from one hotel to another. They had even changed mobile phones. With the help of the Goa police, we were able to track them down and arrest them,” the CCB source said.
Investigators claim that parties were held in Suneesh Hegde’s residence in Sadashivnagar where drugs were procured and consumed. “The drugs were procured from the darknet and delivered to the foreign post office. We have been tracking foreign shipments from certain countries regularly and we received information that three people would arrive to pick up the consignment on November 9. But only one person showed up. After probing internally, we learned that a police constable may have been involved. He has been suspended pending inquiry,” the CCB source added.