He has been booked under charges of extortion and Prevention of Corruption Act on the instructions of G L Meena, IG, Kanpur Range.

The complainant, Ruksan-a, a resident of Bagahi, had recently met Mee-na. According to her, Mishra came to her residence on June 15. “He introduced himself as an STF personnel and accused my brother Shanu of being involved in a chain snatching case,” she said. Claiming her brother was innocent and was never involved n any crime, Ruksana said Mishra took him to the Babupurva police station. “He demanded Rs 60,000 from me to set Shanu free and told us that he would register a fake case if the amount was not paid within a few hours,” said Ruksana. Later, he settled for Rs 40,000 in cash and Shanu was set free.

“Then we decided to lodge a complaint against the corrupt SOG constable,” she said. For two weeks, she regularly visited the Babupurva police station but her appeal went

unheard. “Thereafter, we met the IG Range,” added Ruksana. Station Officer of Babupurva, Ayub Hasan, said, “A case has been registered and the investigation has started.”

The SP (Kanpur East), Dharam Veer Singh, said: “Though we have yet not initiated any departmental action against Mishra, if found guilty, he will be suspended immediately,” he said. The investigating team will also trace whether any other officer of Babupurva was involved in the alleged extortion, he added.

Murky record
* February 1: On charges of extortion, a case had been registered against a constable at Chakeri police station.
* February 5: A sub-inspector of Seesamau police station booked for thrashing a Dalit woman.
* February 11: A sub-inspector was sent to the lines for misbehaving with a woman in Bidhnoo area.