The seven on-duty policemen, including Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Pushkal Gogoi of Bajali district, have been detained by the Assam Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on the charges of extortion and murder threats to a businessman, according to police.
Assam police director general (DG) Gyanendra Pratap Singh shared the information on X (formerly Twitter), stating that the headquarters received the complaint in the first week of August that some cops were demanding money and the Vigilance Anti-corruption department attempted to catch them by setting traps.
The accused are facing charges under section 120B (criminal conspiracy), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 448 (house trespass), 294 (obscene acts and songs), 379 (theft), 387 (extortion), 427 (mischief causing damage), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to reports, the accused allegedly demanded Rs.5 crore from the businessman last month and threatened to arrest and kill him in custody if he didn’t pay the money. Police have recovered several documents and proof against the accused, including a cheque of Rs.2 crore and Rs.10 lakh in cash.
The accused are identified as DSP (HQ) of Bajali district Puskal Gogoi, officer-in-charge of Patacharkuchi Police Station, sub-inspector Anup Jyoti Patiri, sub-inspector Debajit Giri, assistant sub-inspector Sasanka Das and Constable Injamamul Hassan along with home guards Deepjoy Roy and Nabir Ahmed.
It can be noted that DSP Pushkal Gogoi is also one of the accused in the Assam Public Service Commission cash-for-job scam. DG Singh said that during the initial investigation, it was found that the complaints against the cops were authentic following which a case was registered by the CID.
