Kerala: Probe ordered against deputy SP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has asked state police chief Loknath Behera to initiate a departmental inquiry against the deputy SP who was prima facie found to have accepted a bribe of Rs 25,000 to settle a case in favour of a petitioner, through a middleman.
According to the order issued by the home department, deputy SP S Vidyadharan, while serving as Karunagappally ACP in May 2020, committed grave misuse of power, dereliction of duty and his act was unbecoming of a senior police officer that warranted stringent action. “The inquiry establishes that S Vidyadharan, ACP, had accepted bribe from the father of the petitioner through a middleman under the influence of the counter petitioner and thereby misused his official powers,” said the government order.
The issue began with a complaint filed by the wife of Anwar Muhammed from Karunagappally. His wife had petitioned against him citing that her child was missing; knowing that the four-year old was with her father. Police then registered a missing case under Section 57 of Kerala Police Act and then called up the petitioner to threaten him that if he does not produce the child, a case under IPC Section 498A, that deals with domestic violence against women, will slapped against him and family members.
The petitioner then handed over the child to the police after he was threatened. In the probe by the state police chief, it was found that the officer had slapped the charges despite knowing that matter between the petitioner and his wife was a family matter that was being dealt in the court.
A middleman also was sent to the petitioner by the police officer, who said that if he pays Rs 25,000 to the deputy SP, the child would be returned. Later, the petitioner was summoned to the office of the ACP, where he was told in the presence of the middleman that he has to act as per the instructions given to him. The government order said a CCTV footage showed the money being handed over, and there are voice recordings of the middlemen, that proves that the officer was clearly involved and misused his powers.