Six UP policemen suspended for conniving with criminal, one for taking money: Official

Seven policemen were suspended here in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, six of them for allegedly conniving with a criminal, a senior police official said.

They were suspended by Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan, Superintendent of Police (SP), Rural, Rajkumar Aggarwal said.

Station House Officer (SHO) of Fatehganj Paschimi Manoj Kumar Singh was suspended after it was found that he was in contact with a man named in two drug cases — Mohammad Shanu alias Sonu Kalia — and stalling his arrest, the official said. Police said Shanu is still at large.

Singh was communicating with Shanu on WhatsApp, the SP said and added that the policeman also faces charges of gross negligence, laxity, indiscipline, arbitrariness and misbehaviour in this matter. He was suspended with immediate effect by the SSP, Aggarwal said.

Head Constable Babar, posted at the Shergarh police station; Constables Dildar and Munawar Alam, posted at the CB Ganj police station; Constable Harsh Chowdhary, posted at the Hafizganj police station; Uttar Pradesh Special Operations Group Head Constable Anil Kumar Premi who were in touch with Shanu have also been suspended, the official said.

The action was taken after a nexus between police personnel and criminals came to light, the SP said. Shanu is named in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cases registered by the Mirganj and the Fatehganj police stations in 2021 and 2022, police said and added that he has been also been charged under the Indian Penal Code.

In a different matter, the SP said the computer operator of Faridpur police station, Harish, was suspended after video surfaced online purportedly showing him taking money from a person.