LAHORE, Dec 16: Baghbanpura Station House Officer Inspector Husain Haider has been suspended from service for taking Rs1.2 million bribe.

An inquiry has also been initiated against Inspector Haider for letting two alleged drug pushers go who were held with three kilogrammes of heroin.

According to details, the SHO had on Dec 12 intercepted a car at Daroghawala Pul. On search, the SHO and his team recovered three kilogrammes of heroin from the car and arrested Rana Shahid and Rana Mumtaz, both resident of Sialkot.

Inspector Haider took the two men into custody but did not register a case against them. A brother of an MPA and a Punjab constabulary inspector intervened and allegedly struck a deal with the SHO.

Initially, the SHO allegedly demanded Rs3 million but later agreed on Rs1.2 million. A jeweller, Younus Khan of Suha bazaar visited the SHO to hand him over the first instalment of Rs400,000.

Meanwhile, the Cantonment SP and an intelligence agency got information about the deal. The SHO was caught by a police team red-handed while receiving the money.

The matter was reported to the city police chief who suspended the SHO from service and constituted a team, headed by a senior officer, to probe into the matter. — Reporter