Taking serious note of a police inspector threatening a man with a pistol and demanding a sum of ₹10 lakh to release him from a false theft case, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has recommended a compensation of ₹5 lakh to the victim, besides disciplinary action against the policeman.
SHRC member D. Jayachandran recommended that the compensation amount be recovered from the inspector, and that criminal proceedings be initiated against him for implicating the complainant in a false theft case.
The complainant, G. Gopal of Denkanikottai in Krishnagiri district, claimed in his plea that Inspector Karunakaran, formerly attached to the Velayuthampalayam police station in Karur district, implicated him in a false theft case and arrested him. He also alleged that the respondent put a pistol to his forehead and threatened to kill him in an encounter, before demanding a sum of ₹5 lakh to release him from the case. However, the respondent denied all the allegations.
After going into the claims of both sides, SHRC member Jayachandran noted that from the material on record, it was clear that the complainant was arrested by the respondent without any evidence, and that too only to get a bribe of ₹10 lakh. Further, the judgment of the Supreme Court in D.K. Basu Vs. State of West Bengal regarding the interrogation and arrest of a person was not followed, the member noted. “The respondent abused his power, foisted a case on the complainant and sent him to jail. Therefore, He has to be punished for his wrongdoings,” he said.
