Hyderabad: Palle Thirupathi Reddy became the pride of the Telangana police department and a hero to his children when the state government felicitated him with the “best constable award” on this Independence Day.
But little did Reddy realise that his fame would be short-lived. The day after receiving the award, the policeman was caught red-handed taking a bribe of Rs 17,000 by the anti-corruption bureau.
According to a report in India Today, Reddy had been harassing a man, M Ramesh, for over a year, threatened to confiscate his tractor and implicate him in false cases if the latter failed to pay him the bribe.
Unable to take it anymore, Ramesh approached the anti-corruption bureau and lodged a complaint against the constable.
On August 16, the constable was caught accepting the bribe. He was posted at the I-town police station in Mahbubnagar district.
Interestingly, the Telangana government had felicitated him for being a hard-working policeman and being loyal to his duty.