Policemen accused of extortion by trader

JALANDHAR, April 28: A Punjab Police head constable and two special police officers (SPOs) have been charged with having extorted Rs 1.24 la...

JALANDHAR, April 28: A Punjab Police head constable and two special police officers (SPOs) have been charged with having extorted Rs 1.24 lakh from a Rajasthan trader in the city on April 21.

Shakti Ram of Rajasthan, in his complaint lodged with a city police station on April 25, alleged that the money was extorted by Head Constable Joginder Pal and the two SPOs, having the identical name of Balkar Singh, at Shastri Market Chowk here when he was coming in a cycle-rickshaw.

Shakti Ram, who had Rs 3.64 lakh cash collected from local clients, was deprived of Rs 4,000 in the market and then taken to a local hotel by one SPO who stayed overnight with him and the second SPO joined them the next morning. After having extorted another Rs 1.20 lakh from him, the two SPOs travelled with the trader by bus to Ludhiana to ensure he was out of the district. At Ludhiana, the SPOs saw off Shakti Ram in a bus bound for Ganganagar and returned to the city.

When the victim reported the crime to his employers, the latter pulled strings in Chandigarh and a case was registered against the cop and the SPOs in Police Division No 4 under section 384,342/34 IPC yesterday.