Cop eats money to save himself

HYDERABAD: It was literally a game of chor-sipahi being played out in the open, but with a difference: The chor was a sipahi too!
When Humayun Nagar police station sub-inspector R Chandra Kiran Reddy was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Monday afternoon while taking a bribe of Rs 4,000, he did something that left ACB sleuths gaping: Reddy swallowed all the 8 notes of Rs 500 and took to his heels.Stunned ACB officials soon ran behind.
But the runaway cop proved that he could think on his feet. He hopped on to an RTC bus that was around the corner to shake off the sleuths. But then luck deserted him. The ACB men also followed him into the bus and in a while nabbed the fugitive cop. The SI was then taken to the Osmania General Hospital where he was made to cough up the notes that he had obviously not been able to fully swallow. With the game of chor-sipahi over, the cop is now cooling his heels behind bars.
The saga had actually begun a couple of days ago when Reddy demanded Rs 8,000 from Mohd Zakariya as the price for not filing a charge sheet against him in a theft case registered with the Humayun Nagar police station.
After negotiations the sum was brought down to Rs 4,000. But soon thereafter Zakariya had second thoughts. So instead of pursuing the deal, Zakariya approached the ACB. The case against Zakaria, a shop owner, was filed by some of his relatives in a matter that smacked of a family dispute. ACB officials were game and laid a trap for the SI who has been in service for 17 years and worked earlier in the special branch. He will now be produced before the court on Tuesday.