3 Bareilly cops, including SI, booked for kidnapping farmer, extorting Rs 2 lakh from kin

The accused have been identified as Sub-Inspector Balbir Singh, in-charge of the Kasba police outpost, and constables Himanshu Tomar and Mohit Kumar. The SSP took action against them based on the findings of an inquiry conducted by the circle officer.

According to police, they received a complaint from the victim, Balbir Kumar, alleging that on the afternoon of April 3, the accused forcibly entered his house in Bithora village and took a photograph of him with his son.

The policemen then allegedly made him sit on his motorcycle and took him to a house located within the police station premises. There, they are learnt to have detained him, issued murder threats, and forced him to call his family to arrange Rs 3 lakh for his release.

The victim further claimed that he was abused and thrashed by the policemen. “He stated that the police personnel let him go only after his nephew handed them Rs 2 lakh on the evening of April 3. Before releasing him, the policemen allegedly threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the incident,” said a police officer.

On the basis of complainant, a case was lodged against the policemen on Friday at the Fatehganj West police station under BNS sections 333 (house trespass), 140 (kidnapping or abduction to murder or for ransom, etc), 127 (wrongful confinement), 308 (auction) and 115 (voluntarily causing hurt).

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, slammed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh over the incident. Taking to X, he wrote in Hindi: “Today’s sensational ‘UP News’: Criminal Cops and a Missing Government.” He went on to list issues under the “corrupt BJP rule” and added, “The police are kidnapping for ransom; the police are filing FIRs against police; the police are raiding the police; the police are searching for fellow policemen; in the name of zero tolerance, the police have become zero.”