Another Bengaluru cop accused of extortion

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In yet another shocking allegation, two persons who were recently accused in a vehicle theft case have accused an assistant subinspector of police in the city of extortion. R Manjunath and Shahbaz Khan were recently arrested by the High Grounds police for their alleged involvement in a car theft incident.

After their release on bail, the duo called a press conference in Bengaluru on Friday to share the 'ordeal' they went through. Speaking to News Trail, Manjunath claimed that he is a chartered accountant and knows a person by name Naseeb in the city.

"Naseeb is the son of a woman who used to be my client for several years. A couple of months ago Naseeb came to me with a car and requested me to pledge it for Rs 10 lakh," he said. Manjunath said that Naseeb claimed that the car belonged to a relative of Bhoje Gowda, a member of Legislative Council from JD (S) party. However the owner of the car was short on funds and wanted to pledge it for cash. "Naseeb assured me that he would return the money within a week's time," he said.

However when Naseeb did not turn up even after 10 days, Manjunath said that he sought help from another of his friends from Mysuru, Nabeel, and handed over the car to him. In turn the car was sold off to another person, Shahbaz, who brought it back to Bengaluru unbeknownst that the vehicle was a stolen one. Meanwhile a complaint had been filed at the High Ground police station regarding the vehicle theft by a few staffers of Bhojegowda's office. During an investigation, the police found the car and took Shahbaz into custody.

"We were shocked when the police told us that the vehicle had been stolen. We told the cops about Naseeb who had pledged the vehicle for Rs 10 lakh with us. The cops arrested us and later arrested Naseeb from Goa," Manjunath said. He alleged that Naseeb had confessed to have stolen the car but said that Manjunath and Shahbaz had no role in the offence. However the trio were allegedly put behind bars but later they were released on bail.

"As if this was not enough, we started receiving calls from the ASI identified as Ganesh, who demanded that we register a land in his name to clear our charges. When we denied, the cop threatened to put false charges on us," Manjunath told News Trail. Manjunath and Shahbaz further alleged that on April 11, during a press meet, the police displayed their names as accused in the same car theft case despite it had been clear that they were trapped by Naseeb, who was revealed to be a notorious offender.

"We approached the Police Commissioner's office and submitted a letter with all the details that have taken place so far. However we were told that we will be called in two days," Shahbaz said. High Grounds police however denied all the allegations and said that they will inquire about it and take necessary action against whoever is found guilty. Investigation is underway.