Seven policemen were suspended in Bareilly, including six of them for allegedly conniving with a criminal, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

The cops were suspended by Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan, Superintendent of Police (SP), Rural, Rajkumar Aggarwal said. Station House Officer (SHO) of Fatehganj Paschimi Manoj Kumar Singh was suspended after it was found that he was allegedly in contact with a man (Mohammad Shanu alias Sonu Kalia) named in two drug cases and stalling his arrest, the official said. He added that Shanu is still at large.

Singh was communicating with Shanu on WhatsApp, the SP said, adding that the policeman also faces charges of gross negligence, laxity, indiscipline, arbitrariness and misbehaviour in this matter. He was suspended with immediate effect by the SSP, Aggarwal said.

Head constable Babar, posted at the Shergarh police station; constables Dildar and Munawwar Alam, posted at the CB Ganj police station; constable Harsh Chowdhary, posted at the Hafizganj police station; Uttar Pradesh Special Operations Group head constable Anil Kumar Premi, who were in touch with Shanu, have also been suspended, the official said. The action was taken after a nexus between police personnel and criminals came to light, the SP said.

Shanu was named in cases registered under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at Mirganj and Fatehganj police stations in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the police said, adding that he has also been charged under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In a different matter, the SP said the computer operator of Faridpur police station, Harish, was suspended after a purported video surfaced online showing him accepting money from a person.