BENGALURU: 11 police personnel, including the Chamarajpet police inspector attached to the West Division of Bengaluru City Police have been suspended for colluding with drug peddlers to sell narcotics under police protection. They have been suspended pending a departmental inquiry for their alleged involvement with the gang.
The officers have been accused of working with drug peddlers who were selling narcotics in and around the West Division, and of receiving money in exchange for providing them protection.
The suspended officials include Chamarajpet Inspector T Manjanna, Head Constables Ramesh and Shivraj, and Constables Madhusudan, Prasanna, Shankar Belagali, and Anand. From the JJ Nagar police station, constables- Basavanna, Mahesh Kumar, and Anand have also been suspended.
A senior police officer said that the RR Nagar police arrested six peddlers on August 22 while they were selling tidal tablets to students and others. The police seized 1,000 tablets, which cannot be sold without a doctor’s prescription.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused were in constant touch with police personnel attached to Chamarajpet and JJ Nagar stations.
The officer added that the matter was reported to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kengeri Gate Sub-Division, Bharath Reddy, who then submitted a report to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) West, S Girish. The case was later handed over to ACP Chandan of Vijayanagar Sub-Division for a detailed probe.
Further investigation revealed that the accused peddlers were paying police officials a commission of around Re 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in exchange for protection. It was also alleged that the police personnel were partying with the peddlers, the officer said adding police personnel were suspended on Thursday, and the inspector on Friday.