Bihar: Four policemen suspended, 5 home guards dismissed on charges of extortion

Four policemen of Bihar’s Saran district were suspended and five home guards dismissed on Sunday on charges of extorting sand truck drivers, superintendent of police Santosh Kumar said.

The action was taken after a probe into a viral video that purportedly showed the policemen extorting sand truck drivers in Maker and Sonepue police station areas. Taking cognizance of the video, the SP ordered Madhura SDPO to investigate the matter.

Investigation by the SDPO found that the video was made on October 26 but the SP got it on October 27.

“ASI Dhirendra Singh, hawaldar Prayag Singh, constables Niranjan Singh and Kamlesh Yadav, and home guard Ashutosh Mishra were identified in the video. They were found to be extorting truck drivers illegally transporting sand,” the SP said in a statement.

“In the course of investigation, it also came to light that without the presence of policemen, four home guard jawans Abshishek Kumar, Shiv Nandan Rai, Muktehswar Sah and Bhrigunath Rai followed trucks till Sadar police station, Hajipur area. They were taken hostage at Shiv Bacchan Chowk for three to four hours by sand mafia and anti-social elements who had gathered there,” the statement said.

The SP said that on the basis of the SDPO’s report, ASI, Dhirendra Singh, hawaldar Prayag Singh and constables Niranjan Singh and Kamlesh Yadav were suspended with immediate effect. Home guard jawans Abhishek Kumar, Shiv Nandan Rai, Mukteshwar Sah, Bhrigunath Rai and Ashutosh Mishra have been dismissed from service.

The SP also sought an explanation from SHOs of Maker and Sonepue police stations.