KOCHI: Grade sub-inspector Mujeeb H of the Elamakkara police station, who had been absconding after criminal cases were registered against him on charges of sexual harassment and extortion, was arrested on Monday after he surrendered before the police.
He appeared at the Elamakkara police station, where he had earlier been posted, and was taken into custody by the investigation team. Police later formally recorded his arrest.
The arrest comes a day after Kochi City Police registered two separate FIRs against the officer over allegations that he misused his official position during the investigation of a narcotics case. Police sources said Mujeeb surrendered after realising that arrest was imminent, as investigators had already intensified efforts to trace him.
In one of the cases, the officer is accused of extorting Rs 1.5 lakh from a doctor by threatening to implicate him in an NDPS case. According to the FIR, he allegedly told the doctor that his phone number had surfaced in the call records of an accused in a narcotics case registered at Elamakkara police station and demanded money to avoid legal action.
The second case was registered based on a complaint filed by a young woman who had approached the station seeking police assistance. In her complaint, she alleged that the officer harassed her and made sexually coloured remarks.
The officer was suspended from service on Sunday following the registration of the two cases. Further investigation is under way.