PANAJI
Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Directorate of Vigilance registered a case against Police Sub Inspector (PSI) Vikram Naik of Ponda police station for allegedly demanding a bribe of Rs 35,000.
Speaking to the media at the police headquarters on Friday, SP (ACB and Vigilance) Vimal Anand Gupta said, “We have registered the case on January 12 against PSI Naik who was demanding a bribe of Rs 35,000."
It was informed that Naik was investigating an assault case registered against one Agnelo Fernandes, a resident of Shiroda, on November 29, 2015 for assaulting his wife. Fernandes went into hiding to evade arrest.
On checking the mobile phone call records of the accused, PSI Naik discovered that Fernandes was in touch with one of his friends, who was then ordered to call Fernandes on the pretext of meeting him. This led to the arrest of Fernandes.
“The matter should have ended there. But the PSI continued calling the friend, who is now the complainant in this case, seeking Rs 35,000 as a bribe. PSI Naik threatened that if he fails to pay, he too will be booked as a co-accused for harbouring the accused while he was absconding," SP V A Gupta said.
The complainant, however, recorded an audio of the conversation and approached the ACB to file a complaint against PSI Naik.
“A case against the police officer has been registered under Section 7 of Prevention of Corruption Act,” said Gupta.
Naik's cupboard was also searched at the Ponda police station.
Meanwhile, ACB has written to the Director General of Police (DGP) T N Mohan requesting him to replace the the investigating officer in the assault case and to initiate disciplinary action against PSI Naik.
