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 consta
ble 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.