Four Wayanad cops suspended over ₹3.3 lakh hawala case

Kalpetta: Four police personnel of the Vythiri police station who failed to report the seizure of ₹3.3 lakh in hawala money and conduct further investigation have been suspended from service pending inquiry, according to Superintendent of Police Taposh Basumatari.

Those suspended are Vythiri Station House Officer Anilkumar CR, Additional Sub-Inspector Bineesh, and Senior Civil Police Officers Abdul Shukkoor and Abdul Majeed.

Inspector General of Police (North Zone) Rajpal Meena suspended the personnel based on a departmental inquiry conducted by SP Taposh Basumatari on Saturday.

As per the suspension order, on September 15 the Vythiri police had seized the hawala money from a Chundel native who had brought it to hand over to a Malappuram native. Although the man had earlier been told he would be called for questioning, he received no intimation from the police station.

The man grew suspicious and submitted a complaint to the District Superintendent of Police, resulting in an internal inquiry and action against the officers. It is alleged that the four-member team neither submitted a report on the seizure of unaccounted money nor conducted any further investigation.