New Delhi:
A Delhi Police sub-inspector was arrested while a head constable and a constable were on the run after a case of extortion was registered against them by a trader in Delhi.
Two of the accused trio, including the arrested Sub Inspector (SI), even opened fire on the police team which had gone to apprehend them in connection with the case.
According to police, one Sanjay Kumar Thakur, who runs a coaching centre and an internet ticket booking centre at Jaitpur in the Badarpur area, yesterday complained to Delhi Police Crime Branch that three policemen had visited him on Monday saying they were Crime Branch officers.
The trio, identified as Sub-Inspector Nagender, Head Constable Amit Tomar and Constable Kaushal, had an alleged intention of extorting money from the trader, police said.
"They (the trio) told the complainant that printing of railway tickets was illegal and seized the hard disk of his computer, registers, etc. They then took him to Nehru Place in a private vehicle and summoned his father.
"Thereafter, they demanded Rs 5 lakh for their release but later settled for Rs 1.5 lakh. But, despite the payment of that amount, they did not return Thakur's hard disk and documents," said Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ravindra Yadav.
An FIR under Sections 384/34 of IPC was lodged by Crime Branch over the complaint and a probe was launched into the matter, police said.
"Soon after the complaint was filed, a raiding team went to Nehru Place at about 6.30 P.M. where Tomar was spotted inside a private vehicle.
"(But) when he was asked to stop, he opened fire on the raiding party and fled from the spot in his car," said Yadav.
The police team then went to apprehend SI Nagender but, as they were talking to him, the accused pushed managed to escape.
As he was being chased by the raiding party, he, too, opened fire at them, although nobody was injured and he was soon overpowered after a brief scuffle, police added.
A separate case has been registered against Nagender and Tomar for firing on police personnel.
Efforts are on to nab the absconding Tomar and constable Kaushal, police said.