Bhubaneswar: A day after his arrest by Odisha Vigilance in a bribery case, the commissionerate police dismissed assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Rajesh Kullu of Mancheswar police station on Thursday.Kullu, along with home guard Jyoti Ranjan Behera, was caught red-handed while allegedly accepting a Rs 20,000 bribe from an accused in a cheating case to release his two costly mobile phones.According to vigilance directorate the duo had already taken Rs 80,000 from the complainant earlier, and demanded another Rs 20,000, leading to their arrests. Kullu was the investigating officer in the cheating case, it said.A senior police officer said the DCP, who is the appointing authority for constables and ASIs, has removed Kullu from service by exercising his powers under Article 311(2)(b) of the Constitution of India.Commissionerate police have also moved the directorate general, fire services, home guards and civil defence to dismiss Behera and another home guard, Abdul Sarfaraj Khan, who was not arrested but found complicit in the bribery case.In a written statement, the police reiterated their stance: “There shall be zero tolerance towards corruption or any form of malpractice … Any officer or personnel found indulging in such acts will face strict and exemplary action in accordance with law and service rules.”The dismissal, however, sparked debate on social media, with many questioning why similar action was not taken against other personnel arrested for bribery. A user wrote: “We appreciate this prompt action. On Jan 4, CRRI police station’s IIC Bijay Kumar Barik was arrested while accepting Rs 40,000 from a liquor trader. What happened to the tall words and lectures on honesty then?”Others raised concerns about unequal treatment of ranks. “Why is there one law for lower-level staff and another for high-ranking officers, many of whom were reinstated despite arrests in corruption cases worth lakhs and crores,” another user asked.
