Thiruvananthapuram: The special branch has launched a probe after video and audio clips purportedly showing a police officer demanding bribe to drop a counterfeit currency case were made public.
The clips were released by Haneef Shiroz of Thadikkad, Anchal in Kollam, who claimed he was falsely implicated in a counterfeit currency case. He said the former circle inspector of Upputhara, Idukki, police M S Riyas and three others, demanded the bribe for dropping the 'fake' charges. Riyas is now a circle inspector attached to the Thiruvananthapuram city crime police station.
A case was registered against Shiroz in April last year after counterfeit currencies with a face value of Rs 12,58,000 and a printer were allegedly confiscated from his house. The accused had a resort at Mattuthavalam in Idukki.
After the case was registered, Shiroz was arrested and sent in remand custody. The case is still on.
Watch, phone taken away: Shiroz
Releasing the clip, Shiroz alleged that the circle inspector and three other police officers approached him saying fake charges were slapped on him, and demanded a bribe for dropping the case. Besides the circle inspector, he also named sub-inspector Charlie of Upputhara police, and assistant sub-inspector Dinesan and civil police officer Tony Thomas for threatening him and demanding bribes.
Shiroz has lodged a complaint with the director-general of police, and handed over a CD containing the visuals of the officers demanding the bribe and WhatsApp messages to the police chief.
The man also accused the police of taking away his watch worth Rs 1.25 lakh and mobile phone he had with him at the time of his arrest. The assistant sub-inspector later returned the phone on payment of Rs 10,000, which was handed over at Riyas's residence at Thiruvananthapuram.
The audio clip has a man's voice demanding money to be deposited to his bank account in Ernakulam. Shiroz, locked in a dispute over his family-run school, claimed that he was falsely implicated in the case by his rivals.
Allegations baseless, says CI
Circle inspector S M Riyas termed Shiroz's allegations baseless, saying he was not the investigating officer when counterfeit currencies were confiscated from the man's residence. The case was charged following all due procedures. The officer also said Shiroz was also facing a charge for scalding the son of his second wife with a spatula.