CHENNAI: The city police have launched a departmental inquiry against a head constable, attached to the Intelligence department, for allegedly stealing seized gutkha from Otteri police station and handing it over to two men outside the police station.

The police have identified the head constable as Venkatesan. The sequence of events was caught on CCTV footage. Venkatesan was seen taking a packet from a haul of gutkha stored at the police station and going outside to hand over the packet to two men, suspected to be traders.

“The concerned constable has been transferred from the North Zone to the West Zone pending investigations. Further action will be taken based on the report on his actions,” a police official said. Additional Commissioner of Police (North), Asra Garg had sought a detailed enquiry on the incident, the police sources said.

The police have also launched a search for the two men who took the gutkha packets from constable Venkatesan. Further investigations are on to find if other policemen are part of the racket.