3 crime branch cops suspended for extortion

Pune: Three beat marshals from Pune's city crime branch were suspended on Monday after they allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs5,000 from a senior citizen, the chairman of a housing society in Pashan. The demand was reportedly made to ignore complaints about construction noise beyond 10pm on April 13.
While officials at Baner police station and the crime branch withheld the chairman's identity due to his age, they confirmed that the marshals were patrolling the Baner-Pashan area when they approached the society. Claiming a complaint had been received by the 112-emergency control room regarding noise pollution caused by construction in the society's parking area, they asked the chairman for Rs5,000 to "not take any action." They later agreed to Rs3,000.
Police said, "The trio took the money and promised not to initiate any legal action and not to shut the construction activity on the society premises." The senior citizen then approached Baner police with a written complaint, which was forwarded to the crime branch.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Nikhil Pingale told TOI, "After receiving the written complaint, we initiated an internal inquiry against them, and a preliminary inquiry confirmed that the beat marshals demanded money from the chairman of the society not to initiate legal proceedings against the society office bearers."
It was later confirmed that the emergency control room had not received any complaint. These beat marshals were part of the recently launched Cops24 system introduced in January.