A policeman from Telangana landed in trouble after he was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) while accepting a bribe.
Ironically, however, the policeman in question was given a ‘best constable’ award on Independence Day, just a day earlier.
Palle Thirupati Reddy, a police constable at the I Town police station in Mahbubnagar was caught with the bribe amount in his back pocket, following which photos of him receiving a citation from Telangana Minister V Srinivas Goud were widely shared.
ACB DSP S Krishna Goud told reporters that the constable had allegedly been harassing a resident of Venkatapur village, identified as Ramesh, for over one year, whenever he was transporting sand in his tractor.
Ramesh claimed that the constable would frequently stop him, though he had all valid documents to transport the sand and had recently even allegedly threatened to file a false case against him.
Following this, Ramesh agreed to pay an amount of Rs 17,000 to ensure that no case is filed against him and that his tractor is not seized. Ahead of his meeting with Reddy, he filed a complaint with the ACB, which laid a trap and caught the constable.
After his arrest, the constable was produced before a special court for ACB cases and sent to judicial remand.
In May this year, activists had said that though the ACB frequently conducts such operations and is able to nab corrupt officials, not much happens after that. Activists alleged that some cases against officials are closed while some other cases are proposed for departmental inquiry, which never ends.
Those who wish to report corruption within the Telangana government departments may dial 1064 or go the ACB website.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)