BENGALURU: A Police Inspector caught in a bribe case has gone absconding. Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) sleuths on Thursday nabbed a Revenue Inspector (RI) and a head constable (HC) of Chikkajala red-handed while they were taking bribes from a landlord having a land dispute.
However, police Inspector Yeshwanth of Chikkajala police station, who also allegedly took bribe, went absconding and a special team has been formed to nab him, the ACB officials said.
The arrested officers are Revenue Inspector H Putta Hanumaiah alias Praveen, attached with Jala Hobli in North Taluk and the head constable Raju, attached to Chikkajala police station.
According to an ACB press note, the officials received a complaint from the landlord who had a sale agreement to purchase five acres of land in Shettigere village in Jala Hobli from the landowner Syed Baba Jaan in 2018. He had agreed to pay Rs 2.8 crore for the land and had given Rs 15 lakh as an advance in two instalments.
However, Jaan had another subsequent sale agreement executed to another person. The complainant had approached the court for an injunction order which was granted in his favour.
The complainant approached the tahsildar office and filed an application to get land registration documents -- podi, mutation, and pouthi khata. To give these documents, Hanumaiah had demanded Rs 50 lakh bribe. At the same time, the landlord met Chikkajala police seeking protection to put a board in the disputed land and met police inspector Yeshwanth and Raju.
Raju allegedly demanded a bribe and negotiated for Rs 10 lakh. Meanwhile, Rs 4 lakh was already given to Yeshwanth. The complainant approached ACB and went to give remaining Rs 6 lakh to police. Raju was caught red-handed while accepting the money near the police station while Yeshvanth, who came to know about the trapping, managed to escape.
Revenue Inspector Hanumaiah was taken into custody for accepting Rs 5 lakh bribe near Sheshadripuram.
A senior police officer from North Division said: "The Inspector was not in the station since morning and he did not inform any senior officers. Later, we came to know that he was accused of accepting bribe and ACB had trapped him. So we are waiting for a report from ACB and based on that he will be suspended.