Mangaluru : A Head constable of the City Crime Bureau of the Mangaluru City police, was transferred to Moodbidri police station, after it was tipped off that the sim card used in an honey trap case was found to be in his name.

According to sources in the police, the Commissioner of Police, had ordered issue of notice to Ganesh head constable working then with CCB. Kavoor police station had registered an FIR no,0089 of 2018 registered on 22,3.2018 after a complaint was registered in Kavoor Police station by a retd PWD Engineer residing in Bejai. With the help of City Crime Bureau 3 men and 3 women were arrested and produced before district court, and they had obtained bail from the high court of Karnataka after district court had refused to grant bail .

A 96 page charge was filed by Investigating officer of Kavoor Police station in the case before 3rd JMFC Mangaluru. A member of the PUCL DK had found that the call details of none of the accused was part of the charge sheet, and that no efforts were made to obtain the charge sheet or file the same into court. Even after the charge sheet was filed into court, it was found, that even the prosecution failed to bring it to the knowledge of the court or direct the IO to produce the call details.before court, which is must and of great importance to the case. The call details of the accused, if obtained and investigated, it is said, would have revealed, for how much time, all the accused were in touch with each other and their other out going calls details, which would have thrown more light on the case.

P.B.Dsa, National Vice President of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) had filed a complaint on the lapses in the investigation to the Commissioner of Police, pointing out to the SIM card in the name of Ganesh which was used in the Honey trap by one of the accused to call the retd engineer for a Ayurvedic massage. T.R.Suresh Commissioner of Police had ordered for further investigation by the investigating officer and submit further report to the court, after ACP Panambur had enquired and submitted a report confirming the SIM in the name of Ganesh Head constable to have been used in the Honey trap. It was only after submission of report to court, that Ganesh Head Constable was suspended after the team investigating a honeytrap case named him in its preliminary report. T R Suresh, city police chief, said the suspension of Ganesh, 45, a head constable, was based on a report submitted by Rajendra, ACP, Mangaluru North under the direction of Uma Prashanth, DCP (crime and traffic).

On March 20, a 71-year-old retired PWD official wanted to avail a “massage” and he was invited to a house in Maryhill. Three men barged into the room in the house of an accused women and they shot a video of the official and a woman naked. They demanded Rs 10 lakh if he wanted to keep the case confidential. After a bargain the ex-official transferred Rs 3 lakh from two bank accounts according to the bank details of Ravi accused no,1. Many such amounts that was found to have been deposited into accused no.1 bank account suggests that the group involved in this honey trap, could have been involved in many such Honey traps. Many such victims it is said could be remaining silent because they could not muster courage and report this matter to police.

During investigation, it was learnt that the sim card through which a woman had arranged the massage belonged to Ganesh. When asked for an explanation, he said he knew the woman, and had given her a sim card which he had not been using. But Ganesh being a part of the City Crime bureau and not being aware, that a SIM card in his name should not be given to any other person is unbelievable. It is said that Ganesh was part of the CCB team that had helped in arrest of the all the accused, but has no where he has stated that one of the accused was known to him and that he had given her his sim.

Ganesh’s name cropped up in the case even before he was removed from the CCB, and transferred to the Moodbidri police station, a police officer said. It remains to be seen whether Ganesh will be dismissed from service while he remains suspended.