5 cops suspended for posing as drug officials, extorting chemist

Bareilly: Five police personnel, including the in-charge of the Moradabad surveillance cell and four constables, were suspended after a medical store owner accused them of posing as drug department officials, illegally detaining him and extorting money, officials said on Wednesday.The complainant, Uvaid Qureshi, said the incident took place about a month ago at his medical store in the Phailkhana Reti Street area. He alleged that a team from the surveillance cell raided the shop while posing as officials from the drug department and accused him of stocking and selling banned medicines.Qureshi claimed that during the raid, the personnel took him into custody and confined him at a private property. He also alleged that the officers damaged CCTV cameras installed at the shop and forcibly removed the DVR that contained surveillance footage. In his complaint, he stated that the team initially demanded Rs 1 lakh for his release but later agreed to accept Rs 40,000.Following the complaint submitted to SSP Moradabad Satpal Antil, the circle officer Katghar was directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter. Officials said that Qureshi provided CCTV footage which corroborated the presence of the surveillance team at the store and confirmed that he had been detained. After reviewing the inquiry report, the SSP on Tuesday suspended surveillance cell in-charge Veer Bose along with constables Shivam Chikara, Vipin Sharma, Yash Dahiya and Manoj Yadav."The complaint was investigated thoroughly and action was taken based on the findings of the inquiry. The personnel were neither authorised to conduct such a raid nor did they inform senior officials. Departmental proceedings have also been initiated against them," the SSP said.