Congress leader, 3 policemen held for robbing Rs 1 cr

The Uttarakhand police have arrested a Congress leader and three policemen for allegedly robbing a bag containing Rs one crore, a top police official said on Wednesday.

Director General of Police (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar said all the four arrested on Tuesday night have been identified as Congress leader Anupam Sharma, Sub Inspector Dinesh Negi, Constable Manoj Adhikari and police driver Himanshu Upadhyay.

The arrested have been sent to jail on different charges, including robbing a property dealer Anurodh Panwar, who was carrying the "black bag" allegedly containing Rs one crore. The incident took place on April 4.

Panwar had initially told the investigating police officials that the money was meant for the purpose of the April 11 elections held in Uttarakhand.

Preliminary investigations revealed that Panwar, who was carrying the money in a car, was stopped on the night of April 4 by a group of policemen travelling in a police vehicle.

Under the pretext of searching for black money being used for election purposes, the three policemen seized Panwar's bag. The policemen allegedly threatened Panwar and also asked him to run away forthwith.

After 2-3 days, Panwar started making enquiries about the money and visited different police stations. He also visited the income tax department, assuming that the money had been deposited there by the policemen.

However, after failing to get any information, Panwar lodged an FIR and informed senior police officials about the entire incident.

Kumar said he handed over the investigation to a Special Task Force (SIT) headed by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ridhim Agarwal. After a week-long probe, the SIT arrested the four persons and sent them to jail.

The three policemen have been placed under suspension, Kumar said, adding that they are likely to be dismissed from service as the case has brought shame to the police department.

"Our investigations are still continuing. We will again interrogate the four," he said.

Meanwhile, the BJP has criticized the Congress party for using "black money" in the election.

"From day one, we were getting reports that Congress was using black money in the state," a state BJP spokesperson said.

--IANS

str/bc