KOCHI: K9 squad of Kerala Police is known for solving cases. Nearly after five years, police have unearthed corruption in the purchase of a dog and dog feed for K9 squad in Idukki police. A probe found that a police officer allegedly colluded with a person in fabricating invoices for a dog and dog food bought for the squad.An inquiry is also on to ascertain whether the purchased dog was of the pure breed as the rate quoted in the invoices was much lower than the then existing market rate.
Police registered a case on June 8 against the accused Chacko Francis, 53, assistant sub inspector of armed reserve camp in Idukki and his accomplice identified as Abdul Jaleel, 42, of Udumbannoor, Thodupuzha, who worked with a pets distribution firm.Police booked the ASI and the accomplice for committing forgery, cheating, fraud and criminal breach of trust.
“The forgery took place during the period between August 2016 and November 2016 when Chacko was in charge of the dog squad of Idukki district police. The case was registered after a preliminary probe found prima facie evidence against the accused,” said a senior police officer.
As per the probe, on October 6, 2016, the accused purchased a kennel from a person in Puthuppally, Kottayam, for an amount of Rs 10,000 and created a fake voucher for an amount of Rs 16,000 which was cleared by the then authorities concerned. A further probe found that the accused bought dog food during the months of September, October and November from the pet dealer in Thodupuzha and submitted fake bills for an amount of Rs 99,709.
Though the ASI, during an internal inquiry, had submitted that he was falsely implicated in the case due to some personal grudge of his colleagues, police decided to go ahead with the probe and register the case based on the evidence. The probe is looking at why the officer opted to purchase the dog feed from the specific dealer and whether the kennel he bought had a pedigree certificate.