Yogi govt suspends 18 policemen, including the SHO involved in an extortion racket in Ballia

Ballia/Lucknow : In a significant crackdown on illegal extortion, joint teams led by ADG Varanasi and DIG Azamgarh conducted a raid at Bharouli Tiraha under Narhi police station in Ballia, uncovering a well-organized extortion ring involving police personnel.

Taking immediate action, the concerned SHO Narhi and Chowki Incharge Korantadih, along with 03 sub-inspectors, 03 head constables, 10 constables and 01 constable driver, have been suspended.

During the raid, three policemen escaped, while two officers and sixteen brokers were arrested. The homes of the suspended officers have been sealed, and a case has been registered against all involved.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s zero-tolerance policy against corruption is being implemented swiftly and decisively. Officials reported that late Wednesday night, action was taken following recent information about illegal extortion by police personnel and brokers at Bharouli Tiraha of Narhi police station. Trucks traveling from Buxar, Bihar to Ballia, Uttar Pradesh were being targeted for illegal recovery at the UP-Bihar border.

Upon receiving this information, the Director General of Police instructed the Additional Director General of Police, Varanasi Zone, and the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Azamgarh Zone, to take  action.

Acting on these high-level instructions, joint teams of the Additional Director General of Police, Varanasi Zone, Varanasi and Deputy Inspector General of Police, Azamgarh Zone, Azamgarh, a total of 05 teams from Varanasi and Azamgarh arrived at Bharouli Tiraha around 1:30 AM on Wednesday night. Their investigation confirmed the reports of police personnel extorting money from trucks.

Constable Hardayal Singh was arrested on the spot, while Head Constable Vishnu Yadav and Constables Deepak Mishra and Balram Singh, a total of three police personnel, managed to flee. The police personnel were using private individuals as brokers for extorting money. Sixteen brokers were also apprehended.

Here’s how the extortion operation was carried out:

The brokers’ method of committing the crime involved pre-arranging with the trucks coming from Buxar, determining the specific times during which these trucks would pass through the Thana Narhi area in UP. As soon as the trucks entered Ballia, approximately Rs 500 was collected from each truck.

On a single night, an estimated 1,000 trucks from Buxar entered Ballia. This resulted in an illegal operation generating around Rs 5 lakh in just one night, with the proceeds being distributed among the local police and brokers.

During the raid, Rs 37,360, 14 motorcycles, 25 mobile phones, and 2 notebooks were seized from the arrested brokers. The notebooks contained detailed records of truck passages from the previous nights and days.

This information will now be used to uncover the full extent of the illegal extortion network operated by this organized gang.

During the investigation, it was discovered that the brokers counted the number of vehicles and then delivered the corresponding extorted money to the SHO Narhi.

Total action in the case

● A case has been registered against Narhi Police Station Incharge Sub Inspector Pannelal, Chowki Incharge Korantadih Rajesh Kumar Prabhakar and a total of 07 policemen (Head Constable Haridayal Singh, Head Constable Vishnu Yadav, Constable Satish Gupta, Constable Deepak Mishra, Constable Balram Singh) along with 16 brokers.

● In the above case,  02 policemen (Constable Haridayal Singh of Narhi Police Station and Constable Satish Gupta of Korantadih Chowki) and 16 brokers have been arrested.

● Following a prima facie finding of guilt, Narhi Police Station Incharge Pannelal has been suspended.

● On being found guilty prima facie, Chowki Incharge Korantadih Rajesh Kumar Prabhakar has been suspended and 08 police personnel of entire Korantadih Police Chowki, including Chowki Incharge, 02 Head Constables- Chandrajit Yadav and Aurangzeb Khan and 05 Constables Parvind Yadav, Satish Chandra Gupta, Pankaj Kumar Yadav, Gyanchandra and Dharamveer Patel, have also been suspended.

● Apart from the SHO of Narhi police station, one sub-inspector (night officer U.N. Mangala Prasad), 01 head constable Vishnu Yadav, 05 constables- Haridayal Singh, Deepak Mishra, Balram Singh, Udayveer and Prashant Singh and 01 constable driver Om Prakash have been suspended.

● The residences of the SHO Narhi, chowki in-charge Korantadih, and the involved constables have been sealed to facilitate further investigation, including examining the cash related to the recovered money.

Arrested brokers

1- Ravishankar Yadav son of Kamala Prasad Yadav, resident of village Bharouli, police station Narhi, district Ballia.

2 Vivek Sharma son of late Shivshankar Sharma, resident of village Kotwa Narayanpur, police station Narhi, district Ballia.

3- Jitesh Chaudhary son of Shriram Chaudhary, resident of village Bharouli, police station Narhi, district Ballia.

4- Virendra Rai son of Dayashankar Rai, resident of Arjunpur, Police Station Industrial Area Buxar, Bihar.

5- Sonu Singh son of Parshuram Singh, resident of Kathariya, Police Station Narhi, District Ballia.

6- Ajay Kumar Pandey son of Rajendra Pandey, resident of village Bharouli, Police Station Narhi, District Ballia.

7- Virendra Singh Yadav son of late Ramnagina Yadav, resident of Sarimpur, Police Station Industrial Area Buxar, Bihar.

8- Arvind Yadav son of Shriram Yadav, resident of Bharouli, Police Station Narhi, District Ballia.

9- Umashankar Chaudhary son of late Dinanath Chaudhary, resident of Bharouli, Police Station Narhi, District Ballia.

10- Jawahar Yadav son of Triveni Yadav, resident of Bharouli, Police Station Narhi, District Ballia.

11- Dharmendra Yadav son of Munshi Yadav, resident of village Amaav, Police Station Narhi, District Ballia.

12- Vikas Rai son of Santosh Rai, resident of village Chandes, Police Station Kudhni, District Kaimur, Bihar.

13- Harendra Yadav son of Paras Yadav, resident of village Bharouli, police station Narhi, district Ballia.

14- Salam Ansari son of Vakil Ansari, resident of village Bharouli, police station Narhi, district Ballia.

15- Anand Kumar Thakur son of Shiv Bahadur Thakur, resident of village Bharouli, police station Narhi, district Ballia.

16- Dilip Kumar Yadav son of late Deep Chand Yadav, resident of village Rajapur, police station Karimuddinpur, district Ghazipur.