CHENNAI: Four greedy constables who extorted `1.5 lakh from a Telangana-based jewellery shop employee for carrying huge sum of money were placed under suspension, on Tuesday night.
The quartet were served the orders of suspension pending departmental inquiry. The top cops were also mulling whether to take criminal action against the four for marring the image of the City Police.
The quartet, attached to Elephant Gate Police station, on Friday last intercepted one Srinivasalu, an employee of a jewellery shop in Warangal district carrying `32 lakh cash for purchase of jewellery, in Park Town.
The constables - Mariappan, Raja Singh, Sani Laidu, and Muthuramalingam flagged the car in which Srinivasalu was travelling and found that Srinivasalu could not account for the huge cash with valid documents. Instead of informing this to the superiors, they demanded `10 lakh to let Srinivasalu pass through without any trouble. After much bargaining, Srinivasalu settled for `1.5 lakh.
However, the incident was reported to the City Police top brass by the jewellery shop owner and investigation revealed the involvement of the quartet. The extorted money was also recovered from them. Following the recommendation of Additional Commissioner of Police, the disciplinary action was taken.