Ghaziabad, Nov 2 (IANS): A police officer has been suspended while another has been transferred after they booked an innocent school topper in a motorcycle theft case and put the teenager behind bars, officials said.

During investigation, police from Modi Nagar found that the suspect Ayush was a minor and a student of Class 11 at a public school here. He was the school topper in last year's CBSE examination with 96 percent marks.

According to the police complaint, a man named Devendra Gupta said his motorcycle was stolen Oct 25 from his residence in Devendra Puri area of Modi Nagar.

Police from Niwari later said they have arrested the thief and recovered the motorcycle.

Residents told police that on that day, Ayush was following his father Sanjay Naresh's scooter on the motorcycle of a man named Soni, a resident of the same area where they live. They were on their way to a scooter mechanic's shop.

When Soni saw a police patrolling team, he fled, leaving behind a stunned Ayush.

Police later came to know that the motorcycle was stolen by Soni a day earlier, but Ayush said he did not know anything about it.

Police took Ayush into custody and sent him to Dasna jail without accepting his plea that he was innocent and without verifying the fact that he was a minor.

"We have suspended the investigation officer, while the station house officer has been transferred to police lines. Efforts are on to bring back the teenager from Dasna jail," said police officer Jagat Ram Joshi from the Modi Nagar police station.