KOCHI: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Varapuzha custodial death case on Saturday arrested a policeman on charges of accepting a bribe from the family members of the victim.
The arrested is Pradeep Kumar, former driver of the North Paravur CI, who is currently placed under suspension, the officers said.The accused allegedly demanded `25,000 from the family members of S R Sreejith, the victim, on April 7 for securing the release of the youth, who had complained of severe abdominal pain while in police custody.
According to the SIT officers, the accused accepted `15,000 from the family through a middleman - a relative of the accused - a day after the youth was taken into custody. The amount, however, was returned through the same person 21 days after the youth died at a hospital. During interrogation, the accused claimed he accepted the money on behalf of the then North Paravur CI Crispin Sam. However, the investigators have so far been unable to collect any evidence to establish his claim.
“So far, the inquiries in this regard have suggested the then Circle Inspector is no way linked to this case.
“The accused demanded the money in a bid to exploit the opportunity since he thought Sreejith would be released from custody soon,” said an officer.Besides, the SIT unearthed several instances of the accused taking bribe from relatives of suspects in various other cases and promptly returning the cash in the event of their arrests.
“In case if they get released, he claim that he facilitated the release by making ‘timely’ interventions and would keep the cash,” the officer added. The accused was booked under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 116 of the Kerala Police Act. He will be produced in the Vigilance court in Muvattupuzha, the officers added.