Inspector of Police Murugan, attached to the Kenikarai police station here, was arrested on Saturday by sleuths of the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC).
Acting on the complaint lodged by C. Ramamurthy (33), a goldsmith from Virudhunagar, a DVAC team, led by P. Thangavel, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Pudukottai, in charge of the district, arrested Murugan on charges of demanding and accepting Rs. 3,000 from the complainant for releasing his two-wheeler.
He was arrested under Sections 7 and 13 (1) (2) and 13 (1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He was produced before Judicial Magistrate II N. Veluchamy and remanded in judicial custody. He was lodged in Madurai Central Prison, police said.
The DVAC team, comprising Inspectors of Police G. Janaki and R. Chandrasekar, seized Rs. 10,500 from Murugan but gave back the money after he accounted for it, Mr. Thangavel said. He said Ramamurthy, who lost his two-wheeler, came to the Kenikarai police station to take possession of his vehicle on Friday when Murugan demanded money for releasing the vehicle. After he lodged a complaint, the DVAC police laid a trap and sent the complainant with Rs. 3,000 and caught him red-handed.
The goldsmith had parked his vehicle near the railway station on June 6. He had presented a petition to the Virudhunagar Collector during the grievance day and it was sent to the West police station for investigation. Later the police found that the two-wheeler was seized by the Kenikarai police during a vehicle check and asked the complainant to take delivery of the vehicle.
