ASP rides in truck to net 7 bribe-seeking cops near Chandigarh

KARNAL: In an undercover operation on Friday night by Karnal's assistant superintendent of police, seven policemen were booked for demanding bribe from a truck driver to let him pass through the district. Six of them were arrested, while one was absconded.ASP Wasim Akram said that he had been getting complaints about policemen seeking bribe to let trucks loaded with mining material and animals pass through the district, so he decided to go on a round on Friday midnight. He boarded a truck which was carrying animals to Uttar Pradesh.As the truck reached Maharana Partap chowk in Karnal, it was confronted by a PCR vehicle. Three cops in the PCR van asked for Rs 2,000 from the truck driver in presence of the ASP. ASP Akram immediately got them arrested and ordered the registration of a case against them.Later, the truck reached the National Highway No. 1, where it was stopped by the highway police. Two cops on duty, including a home guard and a constable, demanded a bribe of Rs 1,000 to let the truck pass. Both were also arrested and booked for seeking bribe.The same truck was again stopped by a PCR vehicle near a gurdwara in Nissing town where two cops demanded Rs 2,000 from the driver. The ASP got both policemen arrested and a case was lodged against them too.ASP Akram revealed that the whole operation had been ordered by inspector general of police, Karnal range, Hanif Qureshi, who also monitored the raid. He said that following the revelations, a departmental inquiry had also been ordered to unearth the nexus between the cops and truck drivers.Karnal superintendent of police Abhishek Garg said that the department had been getting complaints on the basis of which the raid was planned. Seven cops booked included ASI Satbir Singh, home guard Vikram Singh, constable Kuldip Singh, home guard Pardip Kumar, ASI Phool Singh and head constable Lakhiram have been arrested while constable Surinder Singh fled from the scene.