THREE serving police officers and a former detective are to be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The move follows a lengthy investigation into the claims of an Asian former traffic police constable, Sultan Alam, that he was set up for a crime he did not commit by colleagues in Cleveland Police.

Mr Alam was jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of conspiracy to steal car parts, but has protested his innocence since his arrest almost ten years ago.

A team from Northumbria Police was brought in by the Police Complaints Authority to investigate allegations made by the father-of-two after his release from jail.

The two-and-a-half-year inquiry, codenamed Operation Granite, investigated allegations that a number of Cleveland Police officers committed perjury and conspired to pervert the course of justice, before and during the criminal investigation which led to Mr Alam's conviction at Teesside Crown Court.

It was confirmed last night that three serving officers, including a police inspector, and a former detective, are to be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

The Northern Echo understands the former detective who is to be charged is Russ Daglish, the man who sparked the Operation Lancet probe into Ray Mallon's regime at Middlesbrough CID.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said: "The Crown Prosecution Service has today informed Cleveland Police that criminal proceedings are to be taken against three serving and one former officer.

"This follows a long running inquiry into complaints made by former constable Sultan Alam concerning his arrest in 1994 and subsequent trial in 1996.

"He was found guilty of conspiracy to steal motor vehicle parts at Teesside Crown Court in December 1996 and sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. He was subsequently dismissed from the force.

"His complaint was made in 1999 to the Police Complaints Authority and senior officers from Northumbria Police were appointed to investigate."

The statement added: "A complex and detailed file was submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service in April 2002. It contained allegations against 12 individuals.

"The CPS decided in May no criminal action should be taken against eight of those individuals.

"The four remaining are to be charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice."

Mr Alam served nine months in prison and was sacked from the force.

A year before he was jailed, he took Cleveland Police to an employment tribunal claiming racial discrimination, but lost his appeal.

Mr Alam, who wanted to be a police officer from boyhood, now earns a living driving a taxi. The strain of the arrest, the trial and imprisonment led to his marriage break up and divorce.

He could not be contacted last night.