Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Aug 8: A constable from Govindapura police station has been suspended on charges of dereliction of duty after photos and videos surfaced showing a notorious Mumbai-based thief, Sheikh Saleem alias Saleem, dressed in police uniform.

Professional criminal Saleem was arrested in connection with a theft case reported on June 23 within the Indiranagar police station limits. During the investigation, his mobile phone was seized, and upon examination, images and videos were found of him posing in a police uniform with a nameplate reading ‘Constable H R Sonar’. It was also discovered that the accused had made a video call to his wife while wearing the uniform.

Taking the matter seriously, DCP (East) D Devaraj conducted an internal inquiry. The probe revealed that about a year ago, when Saleem was in custody in connection with another arrest, he had been kept at a hotel where he donned the police uniform belonging to Constable Sonar and posed for photographs. It was also found that during the hotel custody, Saleem wore the uniform and made a video call to his wife. Following these findings, Constable Sonar has now been suspended for dereliction of duty.

Saleem has a history of thefts in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Pune. In 2021, during a raid conducted by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) inside the Bengaluru Central Prison, he was found to be operating his activities from inside the jail, issuing instructions to his gang over a mobile phone. He had reportedly formed a team inside the prison, and after they were released on bail, he provided them with training to carry out thefts at night.