BARGARH : Three police personnel were arrested by Bargarh police on Saturday on charges of looting Rs 3.02 lakh from a Chhattisgarh-based scrap dealer. Another accused, Dhabaleswar Sahu, a Sub-Inspector who is posted at Bargarh town police station, is absconding.
Those arrested include Constable Hemanta Das, Special Police Officer Durga Prasad Rao and Home Guard Prasanta Jena. They were all posted in Bargarh Town police station.
The incident came to light after scrap dealer Sudhir Khetri of Raipur lodged a complaint in the Town police station on Friday night alleging that the police personnel looted Rs 3.02 lakh from him on April 23.
The scrap dealer had approached the Raipur police after the loot incident. However, the Raipur police asked him to lodge a complaint with Bargarh police. According to reports, the four police personnel looted Rs 3.02 lakh from Khetri while he was on his way to Sambalpur from Raipur in a car.
Two police personnel, in plain clothes, intercepted his vehicle near Toll Plaza on NH-6 at Barhagoda, located on the outskirts of Bargarh town and checked it. The police personnel found a bag containing cash of Rs 3.82 lakh in the vehicle. Though the scrap dealer told the police personnel that the cash belonged to him, they did not allow Khetri to go.
The police personnel reportedly assaulted Khetri and took him to Bargarh Town outpost. Subsequently, two other police personnel landed in the police outpost.
They threatened Khetri by stating that they would frame false case of ganja smuggling against him and took away Rs 3.02 lakh from his possession. Later, they took Khetri to Odisha-Chhattisgarh border and dropped him there threatening him not to visit Odisha again.
Bargarh SDPO Suresh Naik confirmed the arrest of the three police personnel under Sections 341, 342, 365 and 394 of IPC and said the Sub- Inspector involved in the incident is still at large. Further investigation into the matter is on.