BIRGUNJ: District Police Office Parsa has started investigation into the allegation of involvement of police personnel in ‘abducting’ a man and taking Rs 3.5 lakh as ransom.

A patrol team of District Police Office sub-inspector Buddhi Chaudhary, head constable Arabinda Yadav, Naresh Yadav among others had taken 40-year-old Sandrika Shah Teli alias Bhagat under their control from Kathmandu Tol of Sedhawa VDC-8 on Monday night and threatened to arrest him if he failed to pay the ransom.

The police team had taken the amount from Teli and had released him from Narayani Irrigation Resident Area of Gandak Chowk at 7 am today.

Parsa Superintendent of Police Subodh Ghimire said investigation into the case was underway.

“I have already ordered them to return the cash to the concerned person,” he told this daily. DSP Maya Kumar Shah will head the probe committee to investigate into the incident.

Meanwhile, former district president of the Nepal Tarun Dal Saharum Raut Gaddi accused DSP Shah himself of being involved in the incident.

The team led by DSP Shah had previously seized 40 kg of hashish from the house of Jogi Yadav in Sedhawa VDC. But the police implicated Teli in the hashish deal and threatened to put him in jail. SI Buddhi Chaudhary, Constable Arabinda Yadav and Naresh Yadav in civilian dress had arrested Teli stating they were representatives from Interpol.

“They threatened to imprison me if I would not pay the amount they had asked for,” victim Sandrika Shah Teli said.

The police had arrested Teli at 10 pm while he was sleeping and kept him in Hanuman Mandir near Masihani till 4 am the following morning. The patrol team then took Teli to the district headquarters in a police vehicle. But instead of being taken to the District Police Office, he was taken to a residential area in Narayani Irrigation Division near Gandak Temporary Police Post.

A police officer on condition of anonymity admitted that they had freed Teli after he had handed them Rs 3.5 lakhs.

However, Parsa DSP Maya Kumar Shah said the information on the arrest of Teli was not true.