MOTIHARI: Bizarre though it may sound, a constable pressed a man, who had quit picking pockets, to resume his criminal activities so that he could start getting his regular bribe again. When the man refused to obey his “order”, the constable got him arrested by planting a pistol in his house.

That’s according to an inquiry report submitted by Motihari ASP P K Mandal. The GRP constable, Vinod Rai, has been suspended by Muzaffarpur SP (rail) Vinod Kumar. Departmental proceedings have also been initiated against the constable.

Earlier acting on specific information given by constable Rai, Motihari GRP SHO Imran Alam raided the house of Ramesh Raut at Razabazar in Motihari on Wednesday and recovered a pistol from a handbag at his house. The raid was conducted with the support of Motihari town police.

Raut was interrogated by ASP Mandal. He said he had stopped picking pockets after his release from jail last year, but constable Rai had been exerting pressure on him to restart his crime. According to Raut, he was earlier a member of a gang of pickpockets and they used to give Rs 2,000 every day to constable Rai posted at the Motihari railway station.

On Tuesday constable Rai called Raut to a liquor shop at Balua Bazar in Motihari where they allegedly consumed liquor. Rai gave him a bag to keep it safely at his house for some time. The next morning his house was raided by a police team which included Rai.

The interrogation of Raut was video-graphed by ASP Mandal and sent to the SP (rail) at Muzaffarpur for action. The GRP SHO said the police were investigating the case.