A physically challenged widow in Kanpur district has alleged that she was told to pay money to local policemen to fill diesel in their vehicles so that they would agree to search for her minor daughter who was kidnapped last month by a relative.
The woman named Gudia, who moves on crutches, approached the Kanpur police chief on Monday with her complaint against the allegedly errant officials.
Speaking to local reporters at the commissioner's office, Gudia, said that she had filed a case about her missing daughter last month. The police, however, were not helping her, she alleged.
"The cops told me that 'we are looking for your daughter'. Sometimes they would shoo me away and cast aspersions on my daughter's character. The policemen then said that if you fill diesel in our vehicles then we will search for your daughter," she said.
Gudia admitted that she had paid for diesel worth Rs 10,000 to 15,000 for the police vehicles. She said she had borrowed from relatives to arrange the money for the diesel.
After video clips of Gudia describing her ordeal went viral, the Kanpur police tweeted saying the police post in-charge under whose jurisdiction the case of Gudia's missing daughter was registered has been removed. A departmental inquiry into the matter has also been ordered.
The police tweeted a video of the elderly woman being driven in a police vehicle from the Commissioner's office to the concerned police station. Four teams have been formed to look for her daughter, the tweet said.
SP Rural, Brijesh Kumar Shrivastava, said, "We have asked the police station in-charge to immediately act on the case. All her allegations will be looked into and if anyone is found guilty, we will take action".