The police, however, have been permitted to investigate any other charges relating to the alleged theft
The police, however, have been permitted to investigate any other charges relating to the alleged theft
The controversy over alleged theft of mangoes by a civil police officer (CPO) has ended amicably with a Judicial Magistrate Court here on Thursday permitting a petition to compound the offence.
Considering the petition, the Judicial Magistrate Court — I at Kanjirappally directed the police to discontinue further action in the case, booked under IPC Section 379. The police, however, have been permitted to investigate any other charges relating to the alleged theft.
The order comes a day after the police raised its objection to a purported move by the accused to settle the case out of court. In a report, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Kanjirappally police station had submitted that compounding the case would send a wrong message to the public as the accused was a police officer himself. It had also highlighted the criminal antecedent of the accused officer.
Earlier, the petitioner informed the court that he had been compensated by the accused for the losses incurred and did not wish to proceed with the case.
P.V. Shihab, a civil police officer with the Armed Reserve Police Camp in Idukki, was accused of stealing a carton of mangoes kept outside a fruit shop at Kanjirappally town on September 30. A CCTV footage of the episode had gone viral on social media. Based on a complaint, the Kanjirappally police registered a case against him.
The accused officer was soon suspended from service pending inquiry. The accused, however, could not be arrested as he had gone into hiding after the incident.
