Policing the police in Bengaluru- Cops running honey trap racket busted

Bengaluru, April 22: Policing the police. This is what one can say about a case busted by the Bengaluru police in which three constables were found to be posing as sleuths of the CCB and running a honey trap racket.

The incident was quite embarrassing for the police which led the Additional Commissioner of Police, West Bengaluru city to say, "policing the police, unpleasant but necessary.

The constables who have been arrested are Basavaraj Mathapathi, Mohammad Ilyas Vijaya Kumar. A lady in the age group of 25 too has been arrested for allegedly helping the constables lure victims into their fold.

Modus operandi:

All the three constables used to honey trap people and then blackmail them. The lady deployed by them would call up businessmen or realtors and invite them over to the apartment where a camera would be hidden.

The three constables then posing as officers of the City Crime Branch would raid the apartment and catch them in a compromising position.

Later they would tell the person that they would file cases and also leak the video if they did not cough up money. The lady Yasmeen would invite these unsuspecting persons to her apartment at Kodigehalli.

The case came to light following a complaint given by one Venkatappa a realtor. He was called by this woman to the apartment on the pretext of discussing a land deal.

He agreed to go after several attempts made by the lady. A while after he arrived at the apartment, the constables conducted a raid. He was threatened and ordered to pay up Rs 2 lakh.

He had given them an advance of Rs 25,000. He was also forced to part with a post dated cheque for the remaining sum. However the constables later told him that they did not want his cheque and he should pay them in cash instead. They even gave him a date.

Busted:

Venkatappa however found something fishy in this entire incident. He spoke with a friend of his who happened to be a traffic inspector. He was advised to file a complaint with the jurisdictional police. The case was handed over to the CCB for investigations.

The CCB told Venkatappa to go through with the deal. He left his home to pay the remaining money to the trio. As he was doing that the CCB team swooped in and arrested the trio. Investigations have revealed that the racket was being run for the past two years. The CCB is in the process of identifying the other victims in this case.

OneIndia News