‘Inspector tried to keep loot from gold shop’

A day after four constables were moved to Vacancy Reserve on charges of misconduct, the police personnel on Saturday met the Additional Commissioner (South) Mahesh Kumar Agarwal and claimed that they have been targeted as they questioned the Mambalam crime inspector for not declaring the goods seized in a burglary case.

Incidentally, the inspector in question was shunted out of the city for his alleged links with gutkha traders.

The constables alleged that it all started with a complaint lodged by Price Jewellery owners on March 31 that 1.6 kg of gold were burgled from their showroom in small quantities by their staff. While a special team led by the inspector Sampath arrested five people and seized the jewellery and Rs 3.5 lakh in cash in Madurai, the inspector allegedly did not show the full recovery. Instead, he tried to take the jewellery and cash for himself.

When constables Vijayakarthi and Sathish questioned the inspector, they were abused and mentally harassed, alleged the constables.

“Since then, the inspector refused to give leave to Vijayakarthi leave citing elections despite him having had a bleeding nose,” said a constable, Vijayakarthi’s friend, on condition of anonymity. When Vijayakarthi was admitted at the hospital on May 3, the inspector allegedly issued him a memo. The constable, who took up the matter with higher officials, was asked to report at Teynampet.

“Even as Vijayakarthi was on medical leave, TV channels flashed the news on Saturday that he and three other constables, Sivabalan, Manojkumar, and Sathishkumar, have been moved to Vacancy Reserve. They were shocked to learn this and decided to meet the Commissioner on Saturday,” said the constable.

The other constables also alleged that they were ill-treated by the inspector as well as the sub-inspector, whom they identified as Madankumar. “If senior officers question the accused in the burglary case, they will know how much the inspector swindled from the seizure,” said the constable.

The inspector was transferred out of Chennai last year for his alleged connection in gutkha scam before his return to Chennai recently. The constables have sought permission to meet the Commissioner AK Viswanathan.

Traffic police personnel at Pondy Bazaar were in for a shock after a man who was caught for drunk driving flashed an ID card that identified him as a police inspector. Though personnel found out that the card was fake, the man was curiously let off on station bail on Saturday. On Friday night, Deepak Raj, a 38-year-old from Egmore who works in an electronics showroom on Masilamani Street was stopped by a woman traffic SI on suspicion. She found he was driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. When she demanded his driving licence, he flashed a fake police ID card. She immediately lodged a complaint at Pondy Bazaar police station. Deepak Raj’s sister allegedly told police that he was using the card to avoid paying toll while travelling along highways. Sources said Deepak Raj was released on station bail on Saturday without investigating further about his activities.