After probe, two inspectors suspended for framing doctor in drugs case

Bengaluru Police have initiated a departmental enquiry to find out why the police inspectors framed the doctor

Two police inspectors have been placed under suspension for allegedly framing a doctor in an NDPS Act case.

The suspects are Lakshman Nayak and Manjunath B S. Nayak is an inspector at the Devanahalli traffic police station. Manjunath is from the Jnanabharathi station.

City Police Commissioner B Dayananda issued a suspension order on Monday based on a report filed by Laxman
B Nimbargi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West).

Police have initiated a departmental enquiry to find out why the police inspectors framed the doctor.

On March 27, 2022, the Jnanabharathi police registered a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act against two unknown persons based on information that they were selling drugs near the Jnanabharathi complex.

Head constable Rajesh filed a complaint after inspecting the spot with his informant and confirmed that the duo was involved in suspicious activity.

A team rushed to the spot around 2.45 pm and detained a 23-year-old man from
Padarayanapura while another managed to escape.

The officials claimed to have seized 10 grams of MDMA. The seized substance was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

Police filed a charge sheet in the case in August 2022 against four people, including the doctor who is head of a private hospital in Chandra Layout; a 23-year-old youth who was caught red-handed and his associate; and a Nigerian national. The charge sheet was filed before the 9th ACMM court.

Former minister influenced cops?

The case was registered when Nayak was the police inspector at the Jnanabharathi police station.

During the investigation, the doctor was mentioned as the consumer who had sourced the drug from the 23-year-old suspect.

Later, Nayak was transferred and Manjunath was posted to the Jnanabharathi police station. Manjunath continued the investigation and filed a charge sheet against the doctor. According to highly placed sources, a minister of the previous BJP government is said to have influenced both inspectors to frame the doctor.

Doctor learnt about case only after NBW

The doctor got to know about the case only when the court issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against him. He immediately contacted Sandeep Patil, Additional Commissioner of Police (West), and complained that he has nothing to do with the case.

Patil instructed Nimbargi to conduct an inquiry and file a report.

During the internal investigation, Nimbargi found that Nayak and Manjunath had falsely fixed the doctor in the case as accused number 4.

The doctor didn’t have any contact with the peddlers. The police inspectors didn’t subject the doctor to a medical test to collect reports of him consuming the drugs. They directly filed a charge sheet against him.

Seized substance was not a drug: FSL report

Interestingly, the substance seized by the police claimed to be MDMA, and the sample was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

FSL report states that the seized substance is not a drug. The report was negative for MDMA. It further stated that the sample is positive for ammonium sulphate, which is a soil fertiliser and therefore, the NDPS Act is not applicable.

However, in the charge sheet, police mentioned that the 23-year-old man and his associate procured the drug from a Nigerian drug peddler, who was by then arrested by the Chandra Layout police in an NDPS Act case. The doctor had taken the drug from the suspect and consumed it, the charge sheet said.