Two police constables attached to the Girinagar Police Station were arrested on Sunday for allegedly stealing Rs 8 lakh from a woman advocate.
On Friday night, at around 9.30pm, the advocate, Suneetha, a Chickpet resident was travelling in an autorickshaw with Rs 8 lakh in old currency, when her auto was intercepted near Seetha Circle by a group of five men.
The two constables in the group told her that her vehicle was being stopped because they had received a tip-off from their superiors, and were on the lookout for persons carrying black money.
One of the policemen in the group, who was not in on the alleged plan to steal Suneetha’s money escorted Suneetha to the Girinagar police station. Meanwhile, the two constables confiscated the bag of money, and disappeared.
“Advocate Suneetha, a Chickpet resident had filed a case against the duo with the police commissioner stating that she was in an auto rickshaw, carrying Rs 8 lakh (old currency notes), which she had to give her relative living in Padmanabhanagar. When the five of them intercepted Suneetha’s auto, they took the cash and said that they were looking for people converting black money to white,” the Chamrajpet ACP, who is currently heading the investigation, said.
At the police station, Suneetha waited until midnight, with no sign of the two constables who had taken the money. Meanwhile, Suneetha had also showed the police documents related to the money. When the two policemen failed to show up, she filed a complaint with the Commissioner.
The constables have been identified as Mayur and Raghav. It is believed that a police informer named Krishnamurthy informed them about the cash in Suneetha’s possession and concocted the plan. Krishnamurthy runs a catering business, and it is unclear how he knew about the cash or Suneetha’s whereabouts.
After receiving Suneetha’s complaint, the Police Commissioner directed DCP (South) SD Sharanappa to probe the matter. Upon investigation, police recovered Rs 1.3 lakh from the constable Raghav and Rs 5.44 from the informer Krishnamurthy, the ACP said.
“The constables thought that the advocate would not approach the cops and did not show up at the police station fearing arrest,” the ACP said.
The constables and the informer have been booked for robbery. Both constables were also suspended after their arrest.