Cuttack: With the bail pleas of three cops who looted Rs 1.5 lakh in cash from a trader passing themselves off as Commissionerate Police special squad members being rejected, they have been sent to prison again.
Judicial Magistrate First Class (Rural) rejected the bail pleas of the trio.
Constable Jogesh Pani along with home guards Braja Kishore Panda and Santosh Mallik stopped the car of a businessman while he was returning from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar with his family at Nirgundi toll gate August 21. They then introduced themselves as special squad members of Commissionerate Police and searched his vehicle.
During the fake search operation, they stumbled upon a box containing Rs 1.47 lakh in cash and decamped with the booty.
The next day the businessman reached Tangi police station to lodge a complaint. As luck would have it, he came across a cop involved in the previous night loot and identified him.
Acting on his complaint, Tangi police detained the cop. Later, the rest two were also nabbed. Following an investigation, the Tangi police suo motu registered a case, arrested the trio and produced them in a court.
PNN