A Deputy Superintendent of Police of Nizamabad district has been placed under suspension by Andhra Pradesh Director-General of Police Swaranjit Sen on Saturday.
Nizamabad Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chandra Laddha said that DSP Mohammed Saleemuddin has been suspended by the DGP pending an inquiry by a senior officer into the allegations that the erring officer was moving under suspicious circumstances in the company of private persons.
"Necessary departmental action will be taken against the suspended DSP," he added.
The charge against the Kamareddy DSP is that he went for a late night rabbit hunt on October 3. Accompanied by a police constable and three villagers, Saleemuddin ventured in an unmarked jeep into the forest area near Kalvarala village, Sadasivanagar mandal for hunting. He did not carry his service revolver or his identity papers. He was not escorted by his bodyguard either. The DSP and four others, who were in plainclothes, carried knives and other sharp-edged weapons.
The villagers of Kalvarala, who were edgy because of a spate of robberies a month ago, had set up patrols with local youth. When the villagers saw the unmarked jeep around midnight, they signaled it to stop but the DSP dodged them.
Suspecting them to be dacoits, the villagers chased the occupants of the jeep which got stuck in the forest. While his escorts fled, Saleemuddin was caught by the villagers.
Though Saleemuddin told them that he was the DSP and that he was patrolling the area, the villagers did not believe him. He latter confessed that he had ventured into the forest for hunting. Thereupon, the villagers manhandled him and held him hostage in the forest till next morning.
On receipt of information about the incident, Kamareddy Sub-Inspector Sardar Singh and Officer on Special Duty K Ramakrishna rushed to the village with additional forces. The villagers freed the DSP after taking an assurance that action would be initiated against him.
Taking the incident seriously, Nizamabad superintendent made a preliminary inquiry and sent a report to Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Nizamabad Range, Anjani Kumar and the DGP for taking action against the DSP.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department also initiated a probe into the incident as hunting is banned.
Divisional Forest Officer A Anjaneya Reddy conducted an inquiry in the village and submitted a report to his higher-ups.