Senior Superintendent of Police, Etah, Sunil Kumar Singh suspended Kotwali Dehat SHO Indresh Pal Singh and head clerk Rasaal Singh, who was in-charge of the strong room, on charges of negligence of duty. (Express photo) Over 1,400 cartons of liquor, seized by Etah police last year, were found missing from the strong room of Kotwali Dehat police station following a surprise inspection on Thursday. Senior Superintendent of Police, Etah, Sunil Kumar Singh suspended Kotwali Dehat SHO Indresh Pal Singh and head clerk Rasaal Singh, who was in-charge of the strong room, on charges of negligence of duty.
The administration estimated the cost of liquor to be nearly Rs 30 lakh.
An FIR has also been lodged against Indresh and Rasaal under IPC section 409 ( criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent). Police also invoked charges of Excise Act against them, said senior sub-inspector, Kotwali Dehat police station, N D Tiwari.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar has been asked to conduct inquiry into the matter, said SSP Etah. Vikas Kumar is posted in the neighbouring Aligarh district. Further action into the matter will be taken on the basis of the inquiry report, he added.
Senior police and administrative officials have also decided to conduct similar inspections at other police stations of Etah soon.
According to SSP, along with District Magistrate Vibha Chahal, he had conducted a surprise inspection at Kotwali Dehat police station around two days ago. SHO and head clerk were not present at the police station then.
A direction was issued to count the number of liquor cartons kept in the strong room, where police keep all the seized properties as evidences of cases. A Deputy Superintendent of Police-rank officer was deputed to supervise the counting and match the figures with the police station record.
An official said, 1,459 cartons were found missing from the strong room. The SHO and head clerk were called to the police station, but they did not turn up. They also failed to provide any satisfactory explanation about the missing cartons when contacted, the official added.
A direction was then issued to lodge a case into the matter.