On Monday, the east zone police arrested six persons, including a home guard, for robbing a man to the tune of Rs. 45 lakh during a money exchange scenario earlier this month. Following such cases involving lower-level policemen, senior officials from the department are wary of actively going after money exchange cases as it gives scope for corrupt officers to dirty their hands.
“Fact is that exchanging money per se is not illegal, as it has not been criminalised in the Indian Penal Code. This scenario of people exchanging demonetised currency with new notes is recent. Some lower-level police officers might make the best of the situation and take bribes,” conceded a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) level officer from the city.
A policeman’s interference or presence during a money exchange will definitely have an impact and gives some unscrupulous men an opportunity to extort money, said another official. “That is why we are handing over the cash to the Income Tax Department instead of taking the probe further. Prima facie it looks like banks may be involved in giving huge amounts of money to individuals, but so far no bank official has been booked,” he pointed out. Another DCP from the city said Hyderabad Police Commissioner M. Mahender Reddy has instructed all officers to inform their zonal DCPs before probing money exchange cases.“It’s very easy for a policeman to scare the parties and threaten them with arrest. Most people will get scared and will offer to bribe him fearing the IT department’s involvement,” said the senior official.
