Six police personnel, including an inspector of the Special Operations Team, were placed under suspension by the Rachakonda Police Commissioner for alleged connivance with petrol and diesel pilferage mafia.
On May 18, the police had arrested five persons involved in diesel theft from tankers and seized over 20,400 litres of diesel and other incriminating material worth ₹13.87 lakh from their possession.
During the interrogation, the accused told the police that they had greased the palms of a few police officials from SOT, Medipally police station, and Special Branch to carry on the illegal business.
ADVERTISEMENT
They also stated that they had been in the business for the past several years and that local police were ‘aware’ of their activities. “An initial inquiry into the allegations revealed the role of six police officers, including SOT Admin inspector Ratnam, a head constable from SB and three constables from Medipally police station,” a senior officer said. Further inquiry was on to verify the involvement of other police officials, including a few seniors.
The officer said there were more than 40 cases of pilferage of petrol and diesel dumps at several places in and around Cherlapally, Chengicherla and Medipally.