A suspended head constable of the Police Transport Organisation held one of his superiors hostage at Adarshnagar near Birla Planetarium on Wednesday alleging corruption by higher-ups in the organisation and seeking action against them.
After more than four hours of high drama, the suspended constable Giri Prasad Sarma, released PTO SP Laxminarayana, following an assurance from DGP V. Dinesh Reddy, over phone that corrupt officers would not be spared.
The abduction drama unfolded in the evening when the SP went to a shop run by Sarma near the planetarium. “We’re told Laxminarayana met Sarma there sometimes,” the police said. It is not yet known what had transpired between them when they met in the evening but Sarma got two shutters of the shop locked from outside by his worker.
Around 7 p.m., he rang up some TV channels stating that he had kidnapped the SP and held him hostage inside his shop. “I have 40 litres of petrol with me and will kill the SP if the police try to break open the shutters,” he threatened by sending text messages over mobile phones.
As TV channels ran scrolls, Central zone DCP Tarun Joshi, and PTO IG V. Venugopala Krishna, rushed to the building. While they began persuading him not to harm the SP, the Task Force officials and the Quick Response Teams took over the area. Barricades were erected on all roads leading to the planetarium while discussions with Sarma to release the SP continued.
As channels went live, Sarma called up a couple of channels to list his demands. The head constable maintained that he was under suspension for the last seven months and was going without salary, for questioning the corrupt practices in his office.
Claiming that he was suspended only for lodging complaints with senior officers, Sarma specifically named another officer Vijay Kumar, who he alleged had maltreated and abused him several times.
Several of his colleagues and senior officials of the PTO, who gathered outside the building, repeatedly requested him to set the SP free but he didn’t budge.
They even made him talk to the Home Minister but to no avail. Finally, Mr. Dinesh Reddy gave him an assurance over phone that his demands would be considered and justice would be meted out to him. Sarma called up his worker, who came and unlocked the shutters, ending the high-voltage drama that kept city police on tenterhooks for a few hours.
