Suspension of Ramesh Kothwal, Inspector of the Miyapur police station of Cyberabad, was waiting to happen.
While Cyberabad police explained that his suspension was the consequence of failure to check illegal occupation of a senior couple’s house, his earlier ‘biased’ actions were already under the scanner of senior officers.
Much before the senior couple’s complaint, Cyberabad police top brass prepared a report which indicted him over ‘inaction’ in a case of illegal occupation of a plot. “Actually, the axe would have fallen on him in this case but somehow he managed to escape,” a police officer unwilling to be quoted, said.
A woman, Hithasree, approached the Inspector in November last year charging that a walled plot — with a shed constructed inside for the watchman — which belonged to her was being occupied illegally by local political leader Srinivas Reddy. Police sources maintained that Mr. Reddy claimed rights over the property stating that he had some papers and secured orders through a court. While the Inspector dilly-dallied the matter, Mr. Reddy allegedly came to the plot in Gokul Plots area of Miyapur with bulldozers and got the compound wall demolished on November 6, 2016.
On learning this, Ms. Hithasree rushed there and rang 100. “A Sub-Inspector turned up at the site but apparently at the instance of the Inspector, he did not stop the demolition,” a police officer said. The accused went ahead and got the shed inside the plot razed to the ground while the SI remained a mute spectator. When she met the Inspector againseeking action against persons trying to grab the property, he suggested her to “settle the matter” with Mr. Reddy. He even made her write a paper stating that she would arrive at an agreement with the litigant over the matter. However, the woman then met the Cyberabad Police Commissioner. On hearing this, the Inspector got an FIR issued against Mr. Reddy using the ‘letter of settlement’ signed by her as the complaint.
“Since that letter did not have any content against Mr. Reddy, it couldn’t be construed as complaint. So we got a fresh complaint made and a second FIR issued,” Cyberabad police officers said.
A report was also sent to the Cyberabad Commissioner explaining how the Inspector sided with Mr. Reddy.
