Kasaragod/Thiruvananthapuram: Lorry drivers should be well stocked with cash on roads in Kasaragod district as they will be asked to grease the palms of police and excise personnel en route to their destinations. It has come to light that a lorry crew with all valid documents of the vehicle and the sand load had to pay bribe to police and excise personnel at seven places in Kasaragod district.
Three cops have been suspended after being caught red-handed in the spy camera of Manorama News channel. Kanhangad highway patrolling Si M V Chandran, Kasaragod traffic ASI P Anand, Kasaragod district headquarters flying squad ASI P Mohanan were suspended by district police chief Dr A Srinivas.
After noticing the Manorama News report, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had asked the DGP to take strict action against the culprits. DGP Loknath Behera said that crime branch ADGP Shaikh Darvesh Saheb and police internal vigilance cell chairman ADGP S Anandakrishnan have been asked to probe the case.
The Manorama News team had boarded the sand lorry at Manjeshwaram on the Kerala-Karnataka border. It was ferrying 21 ton of sand from Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district to Vatakara in Kozhikode district. All the necessary documents from the geology and GST departments were with the lorry crew.
At the Manjeshwaram check post cops demanded Rs 500 as bribe without even inspecting the lorry or the documents. One kilometre away, at Kumbala, highway police stopped the lorry, and Rs 500 had to be paid there too. Then, the patrolling teams of Kumbala and Kasaragod police stations too accepted Rs 500 each. Later, they had to pay bribe at three more places.
