FIR filed against police inspector for siphoning off Rs 72 lakh recovered in theft case

BENGALURU: The city police have filed an FIR against a police inspector under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other IPC sections in connection with recoveries made in a theft case. The FIR was registered on a complaint by Byatarayanapura division ACP Bharat S Reddy.

The inspector, Shankar Naik G K, who was then posted at Byatarayanapura, is currently is currently posted in Bidadi. In 2020, when he was posted at Byatarayanapura police station, a car driver had stolen Rs 72 lakh from one Harish and a middleman named Lokanatha Singh had informed Shankar Naik about it. The inspector allegedly then said that if he is given Rs 20 lakh, he would recover the money.

Though the case did not come under his police station limits, Shanakar Naik allegedly prepared a complaint copy himself and got one John, who did not know Kannada, to affix a fake signature and filed an FIR on its basis. He then recovered the money after arresting the accused.

When the issue came to the notice of then DCP Lakshman Nimbaragi, he had assigned then ACP Kodandaram to investigate the case. During the investigation, it was also found that instead of depositing the recovered Rs 72 lakh with the state treasury, inspector Shankar Naik had used it personally.

Based on the complaint by ACP Bharat Reddy, the police have filed an FIR against Shankar Naik under Sections 201, 409, 110, 465 of IPC and also the Prevention of Corruption Act.