Meerut:

A coaching centre teacher in Meerut was arrested and kept in custody on charges of being an arms smuggler after the police recovered a pistol from his motorcycle. There was one problem with the arrest though – the pistol that was recovered was allegedly planted by a policeman, and he was caught on camera doing so.

Even the visual evidence from the CCTV camera in the house did not ensure that the man was freed immediately. The man’s sister spent the whole night outside the house of the Meerut inspector general of police to have their side of the story heard, and the man was let go over 15 hours later.

The teacher’s family had a long-standing dispute with another family from the area, and the two constables allegedly planted the evidence and arrested the teacher on the “request” of the other family. The constables have been transferred to police lines and an investigation is on. 

Around 8 pm on Tuesday, two police constables entered the gate of coaching centre teacher Ankit Tyagi’s house in Meerut district’s Kharkhoda. Footage from a CCTV camera shows one of them planting what appears to be a pistol on a bike parked inside the house. 

The two policemen then catch hold of Ankit, who was studying inside, and march him out. They are then seen “recovering” the pistol from the bike.

Ankit was taken to the Kharkhoda police station, where the policemen showed that the pistol was recovered from him. They arrested the teacher on charges of arms smuggling.

Ankit’s sister, Rakhi, with her infant in her arms, rushed to the office of the Meerut inspector general of police with the video, and begged to be allowed to show it to him, but was refused permission. She waited there the whole night, hoping that since the IG’s house is also in the same premises, she would be granted an audience with him. 

“Two cops came to our house. My younger brother has been implicated in a fake case. First they planted the pistol on the bike, and then arrested him,” said Rakhi.

Rakhi was finally allowed to meet the IG around 11 am on Wednesday. She filed a complaint, presented the video and Ankit was let go some time after that. 

SP (Rural) Kamlesh Bahadur Singh said, “There seems to be something suspicious in the behaviour of the policemen. We are carrying out an investigation.”