The Uttar Pradesh police today shunted out 18 personnel from their Noida crime branch and ordered an inquiry after a WhatsApp message "exposed" their "bribe rate card".
The allegations raised in the message are "serious", Deputy Inspector General (Law and Order) Pravin Kumar said.
Kumar was asked by reporters at his daily briefing here to comment on the WhatsApp message circulating on social media, which purportedly carried details on how bribes in a particular case were to be shared.
The DIG said the superintendent of police (city) has been ordered to look into the matter in detail.
The person from whose phone the message appeared to have been sent has denied doing so, Kumar said.
Soon after the message surfaced, Noida's senior superintendent of police transferred 18 personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Noida Crime Branch to the police lines.
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Kumar said they have been transferred to ensure a free and fair inquiry.
The message includes a list of amounts which allegedlly were to be distributed among various police officials.
For an unnamed inspector, the list suggests an amount of Rs 90,000.