Three cops from Azad Maidan accused of threatening, intimidating, extorting money from SoBo jeweller, police initiates probe

Following the incident, Palkar and Puri, who was working in the detection staff, were transferred and allotted general duty at the police station, said an officer.

“The senior inspector will be recording the statements of all the persons involved and submit a detailed report after which further course of action shall be decided,” the officer said.

The police officials started inquiring into the incident late last week after the jeweller approached the senior police officials and the state human rights commission.

Jeweller Nishant Jain, in his application, said that three police officers came to his shop at about 8.39 pm on March 1.

The officials claimed that they were probing a case related to a stolen gold bracelet which the complainant had purchased.

“I told them I had not purchased any bracelet, instead a woman named Laxmi and her daughter Pandima Chouhan had mortgaged it for Rs 18,000 on February 10,” Jain told The Indian Express.

The jeweller was subsequently called to the police station for further inquiry and as he went with his father and a younger brother, 33-year-old Jain was taken to the detection room by the three policemen.

The officers intimidated him in the detection room, as one of them started abusing him while another asked for his name with a belt in his hand, the complainant alleged.

“He asked me abhi kya karna hain, aapka hum case bana sakte hain aur apko arrest bhi karenge on the spot (What do you want to do now? We can register a case against you and also arrest you on the spot) I replied that I am ready to cooperate with your investigation,” Jain said in his complaint application that he submitted on March 12.

The jeweller also told them that he was willing to hand over the bracelet but would need a seizure report in order to apply for the return of property.

However, as it did not go well with them, the policemen threatened to arrest him under section 411 (Dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the IPC if he insisted on a seizure report.

“After claiming to consult with the woman police officer, the constables demanded Rs 50,000 from me,” Jain said.

The complaint further read, “I continued to insist for a punchnama and relevant documents and on this, one of the officers got angry and started verbally abusing me, he threatened me and I replied I don’t have cash. He continued with his abuse and later as I was helpless, I said I cannot pay so much and I can only pay twenty thousand, but he insisted on fifty thousand and asked me to bring money from my father.”

He then took Rs 25,000 from his father and handed it over to them behind a parked vehicle at the police station.

Meanwhile, Laxmi, who had mortgaged the bracelet for money, said that the bracelet belonged to her.

“A woman from my locality had given false information to the police due to which I was interrogated and the jeweller was also called in,” she adds.