JEYPORE/BARIPADA : A Sub Inspector of Police in Koraput district was on Thursday arrested within hours of being suspended for demanding bribe from a person who had lost his nephew in a road accident.
Narayan Patnaik, Ambaguda outpost in charge under Jeypore Sadar Police station, had apparently demanded Rs 10,000 from the complainant to release a vehicle which was in police custody after the accident.
The police officer later received Rs 6,000 as illegal gratification.When the random call from Chief Minister’s Office went to the complainant as part of the Mo Sarkar initiative, his feedback was immediately taken up and Koraput SP MK Bhamoo was asked to investigate the matter. "We inquired the matter and found the allegations to be true," SP Bhamoo said.
Basing on the initial probe, Patnaik was suspended. Later, upon finding criminal evidence, a case was registered against him under Prevention of Corruption Act and the SI was arrested. In fact, in the same case, it was also found out that a staff of the Sahid Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital, Koraput had demanded a bribe of Rs 3000 for postmortem and collected Rs 2,500.
This matter has now been taken up for investigation. "We practice zero tolerance towards such misconduct and moral turpitude," he added saying, people must come up with feedbacks to make the administration transparent and people-friendly.
It is for the first time that a police staff has faced music after introduction implementation of 5T under Mo Sarkar.Interestingly, the feedback-based clean-up also saw a second police officer getting suspended on the day, this one in Mayurbhanj district. An SI posted in Betnoti police station was placed under suspension after a video of him misbehaving with the public in an inebriated state went viral on social media.
The suspended cop, Sachidananda Kishan, was found lying drunk on a bench of a betel shop near Betnoti police station chowk. When some locals advised him to go home as he was unable to control himself, Kishan allegedly misbehaved with them. A few persons recorded the entire incident on their mobile phones and posted the video on social media platforms.
After the video came to the notice of Mayurbhanj SP Parmar Smit Parshottamdas, an inquiry was conducted and Kishan suspended. Parshottamdas said the SI was suspended for dereliction of duty and misconduct in public. "There is zero tolerance under Mo Sarkar initiative for defaulting police officers found in drunken condition while discharging duty," the SP tweeted.
Interestingly, Kishan was earlier suspended and remanded to judicial custody for corruption last year. The SI had taken bribe from an accused to remove his name from the complaint when he was posted in Baripada Town police station.