Balaghat man alleges policeman demanded Rs 5,000 at SP's public hearing

The public hearing in Balaghat on Tuesday was held at the Superintendent of Police's office instead of the police control room. Police had earlier announced that the hearing would be held at the control room, so people who arrived there with complaints had to go to the SP's office.

In the conference room of the SP's office, SP Malay Jain heard people's problems along with Additional SPs Nitesh Bhargava and Nihit Upadhyay.

Prakash Pendharkar, a resident of Rajegaon, alleged that Sunil Bisen, a policeman posted at Kirnapur police station, had joined hands with a complainant to get a false complaint registered against him. According to Pendharkar, he is being asked for Rs 5,000. He said he is being threatened that he will be implicated in another case if he does not pay. He said the policeman has been harassing him continuously.

Kirnapur police station in-charge Rajkumar Chaudhary said a case is registered against Pendharkar at the station and is under investigation. He said that if Pendharkar has any complaint, it too will be investigated and action taken as per rules.

SP Malay Jain said public hearings will now be held every Tuesday at police station and headquarters level, where people's complaints will be heard and resolved.