Rajasthan court acquits all accused, including an IPS, 11 SHOs in 2013 extortion case

Jaipur, Jul 30 (PTI) A special court in Ajmer on Tuesday acquitted all 15 people, including 11 SHOs and an IPS officer, accused in a decade-old case involving an alleged extortion racket. The court acquitted them giving them benefit of doubt. The 15, one of them a Rajasthan Police Service officer, were made accused under various sections of Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC.

The Anti-Corruption Bureau had in January 2013 arrested the then Ajmer Superintendent of Police Rajesh Meena, an IPS, along with alleged middleman Ramdev Thathera, for allegedly extorting money from the Station House Officers under his jurisdiction.

Besides the two, the ACB had also arrested the then Additional SP, Lokesh Sonwal, inspectors Khan Mohammad, Sanjay Sharma, Hanuman Singh, Kishal Ram, Pramod Swami, Gopal Lal, Banshi Lal, Jaipal, Ravindra Yadav, Sunil Vishnoi, and Ashok Vishnoi, who all were the SHOs of different police stations, and Hemant Jain, a civilian.

"The ACB had made a fake case. The charge sheet was presented against the police officers but legal evidence could not be produced. Therefore, the court has acquitted all 14 accused today," Umardan Singh, the counsel for four of the accused, said.

The special TADA court in Ajmer, which hears the ACB cases, pronounced the judgment.

Singh said the ACB raided the residence of then SP Rajesh Meena based on source information. However, the prosecution could not give the source information in writing.

Transcripts of phone calls did not come as legal evidence and no such evidence was produced, which could establish that there was any kind of financial transaction.

The ACB had after arresting Meena alleged that he used to take monthly 'bandhi' or extortion money from SHOs through a civilian named Ramdev.

The ACB had also allegedly recovered more than Rs 2 lakh from the possession of Ramdev who was sitting with Rajesh Meena at the latter's residence in Ajmer at the time of the raid.

In the court, Ramdev in his defence said he was carrying the cash for a temple's construction.

Rajesh Meena is currently posted as IG-Security at the Police Headquarters in Jaipur. PTI SDA VN VN VN