MANGALURU: A head constable with the City Crime Branch (CCB) is in soup after an audio clip, in which a criminal is heard offering bribe to him for sharing information about another person, surfaced.
Mangaluru Police Commissioner T R Suresh told TNIE that a probe into the matter was launched on Wednesday. They will look at all possible fronts, including checking if the audio clip, reportedly featuring head constable Chandrashekar and a criminal named Rafiq, is genuine. “The team is also seriously investigating what time the audio clip was recorded, and location of the recording,” he said.
Rafiq, who is behind bars, was arrested by the Anti-Rowdy Squad of the police commissionerate in August this year, according to police sources. He was arrested under the Arms Act after being caught with weapons which he had kept in his car “for style”. Rafiq’s cell phone, that contained the audio clip, was among the seized items. Sources said personal animosity may have led someone to target Chandrashekar by leaking the said clip.
Policeman was lauded for his work
Head Constable Chandrashekar has been actively involved in several important cases and helped the department in tracing many main culprits, Police Commissioner T R Suresh said, adding that there has been no complaint against him so far.
During his 18-year service with the Anti-Rowdy Squad and CCB, Chandrashekar, who kept his ear to the ground and was proficient in several languages, including Malayalam, interacted with informants. With his well-established connections, he was lauded even by the top officers among the state police.
During his tenure with the CCB, he helped trace associates of underworld don Kali Yogish in Sanjeev Shetty Silks and Mulki shootout cases, and Deepak Rao and Basheer Ahmed murder cases, Suresh added. The CCB at that time also assisted the district police in searching for the accused in Ashraf Kalai and Sharat Madivala murder case.
Suresh confirmed that the enquiry will cover if someone inside the department is involved in the leakage of the tape.