Kerala cop suspended for 'stealing' money from bank account of thief's kin

In an embarrassment to Kerala police, a civil police officer (CPO) was placed under suspension for allegedly withdrawing money from the bank account of the relative of a theft case accused, by misusing her ATM card in this district.

E N Srikanth, a senior CPO attached to Taliparamba police station here, had allegedly withdrawn Rs 50,000 from the bank account of the sister of Gokul, who was arrested recently for stealing an ATM card and money from a person on April 3, police said.

The thief had confessed to the police that he had already withdrawn Rs 70,000 using the stolen card and later deposited the cash into his sister's account.

The CPO collected the PIN number of the ATM card belonging to the accused's sister under the pretext of investigation and allegedly withdrew Rs 50,000 from various ATM kiosks, they said.

The police personnel's fraud came to light when the woman received money withdrawl alert in her mobile.

Based on her complaint, an investigation was carried out and the CPO was caught red-handed.

Following this, Rural SP Navaneeth Sharma suspended Srikanth from service on Monday besides registering a theft case against him.

DGP Loknath Behera also sought a detailed report into the incident, which has brought disgrace to the entire police force.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)