Pramesh S Jain & Yogesh K Porwar
T
he Whitefield division police initiated an inquiry on January 31 after a 25-year-old woman from Delhi,who had come to Bengaluru to visit her friend, tweeted that she was harassed by a constable who extorted money through UPI on January 28.
The Home guard has been identified as Manjunath Reddy,deployed by BBMP for patrolling at Kundalahalli lake.
The complainant,Arsha Latif,clicked a photo of the constable’s bike and posted a complaint on social media tagging the Bengaluru police commissioner and other senior police officers seeking action.
This is the fourth known case of patrolling police personnel extorting money from people.
As the post went viral, DCP (Whitefield) S. Girish directed Assistant Commissioner of Police (Marathahalli sub-division) to conduct an inquiry and submit a report for necessary action.
After conducting an inquiry We have arrested Manjunath Reddy V. He is not a policeman, but a home guard attached to the BBMP. The police are filing an FIR charging him for extortion,” said S. Girish, DCP, Whitefield division.
Social media post draws attention
Ms.Arsha came to Bengaluru last weekend to visit her friend who had recently moved to the city. The duo met and went to Kundalahalli lake.
According to her complaint, a policeman emerged out of nowhere and began clicking their pictures. He questioned them and objected to their sitting on a bench on the edge of the lake ‘without permission’ and accused them of smoking. He threatened to book them and demanded that they accompany him to the station.
Unable to bear the harassment, her friend paid the constable ₹1,000 through UPI, following which he left. Ms. Arsha clicked a picture of his bike. She narrated her ordeal on social media and posted the pic of the constable’s bike.
She got a call from the police control room staff who sought details of the transaction.
A trend of extortion
Earlier in January, two police constables of Bandepalya Police Station were suspended for dereliction of duty after they ‘planted marijuana (ganja)‘ in a youth’s bag and extorted money from him
In December 2022, two police personnel of the Sampigehalli Police Station were suspended for extorting a couple for ‘walking late at night’.
Earlier, two constables attached to Adugodi police station were suspended for taking money from a couple through online transfer for smoking in a public place.
