Sidlaghatta cop booked for false case and abduction at large

BENGALURU: Chikkaballapura police have registered a criminal case against two police personnel, a clerk in the district police headquarters and three others for allegedly filing a false case of sandalwood theft against a landlord in southeast Bengaluru to help their friend settle a property dispute.
Police sub-inspector Vijay R and head constable Inayath Ulla, both attached to the Sidlaghatta Rural police station, Venkatesha, a second division assistant in Chikkaballapura district SP’s office, their associates Siddiq Basha of Gauribidanur, Pratap of Melur and Manuvardhan of Mallur are the accused.
Police sources said the incident came to light when a Sidlaghatta Rural police team headed by sub-inspector Vijay arrested Madan Gopal, 62, a resident of Hosapalya, near Bandepalya, south Bengaluru, on charges of stealing sandalwood from Salumarada Thimmakka Park, Hanumanthapura Gate in Sidlaghatta in November 2018.
A month earlier, Madan had filed an abduction case against unidentified people, alleging a gang abducted him in a car on Hosapalya Road when he was on his way to sell milk around 7.30pm on October 5 and released him in Kolar the same night. The then Bandepalya police inspector Ramesh Kumar found that Madan had been arrested in a sandalwood theft case and was lodged in Sidlaghatta sub-jail.
Bandepalya police rushed to the jail to record Madan’s statement in the abduction case on December 12, 2018. Madan told Bandepalya police that he was abducted by a gang and they threatened him to settle a dispute he had with Yelahanka resident Prabhakar Rao with regard to 30 guntas of land in Hongasandra.
Madan claimed he was scared to reveal it in the initial complaint as police officials were part of the abduction gang.
Bandepalya police have named PSI Vijay, head constable Inayath and clerk Venkatesh as accused in the abduction case in December last year and alerted Chikkaballapura police about the development. Inayath was arrested, while Vijay and Venkatesh are missing and absent from work after their names cropped up in the case.
Probe revealed there was a property dispute between Prabhakar Rao and Madan. Prabhakar’s close relative Raghavendra Rao was a neighbour of clerk Venkatesh in Yelahanka. When approached, Venkatesh assured to help settle the property dispute and took help of the two accused policemen.
“The accused allegedly conspired to frame Madan in a false case, thinking he may agree to settle the dispute if arrested. So Inayath took help of Siddiq, Pratap and Manu to cut sandalwood trees from Salumarada Thimmakka Park and stole them. Later, they booked a false case against Madan and orchestrated their recover from Madan,” said a police officer.
“We have registered a separate case recently about the false case in Sidlaghatta Rural police station on May 21 and a special team headed by police inspector of the district special branch is probing the matter,” said a senior police officer.
“We have suspended the policemen pending departmental enquiry about the allegations of false case,” said Santosh Babu K, superintendent of police, Chikkaballapura district.