Uttarakhand Congress leader granted bail in robbery case

Uttarakhand Congress leader Anupam Sharma, who was arrested along with three policemen in an alleged case of robbery last month, has been granted bail by a court here, police said on Wednesday.

A designated Dehradun court on Tuesday granted bail to Sharma even as the police vehemently opposed the bail application stating that the case was at a delicate stage of investigation.

Sharma, who is also facing the spectre of disciplinary action by the Congress, had told police officials investigating the case that he was falsely implicated and was innocent.

Sharma, who is the state party General Secretary and also a member of the All India Committee Congress (AICC), was arrested along with the three policemen on April 16 after they allegedly hatched a conspiracy and robbed a bag containing Rs 1 crore for election purposes.

State Congress President Pritam Singh had stated that the AICC was the competent authority to take action against Sharma. Singh did not give any timeframe for the action.

Sharma, Sub-Inspector Dinesh Negi, Constable Manoj Adhikari and police driver Himanshu Upadhyay were arrested and sent to jail on different charges including robbing property dealer Anurodh Panwar who was carrying the "black bag" said to be containing Rs 1 crore on April 4.

Panwar had initially told investigators that the money was meant for the April 11 election held in Uttarakhand.

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

Under the pretext of searching for black money being used for election purposes, the three policemen seized the bag from Panwar. After the seizure, the policemen allegedly threatened Panwar and also asked him to leave immediately.

After two or three days, Panwar started inquires about the money and visited different police stations and also the Income Tax department, thinking the money had been deposited by the policemen.

But after getting no information, he lodged an FIR and narrated the entire matter to top police officials.

Sensing the gravity of the case, Director General (Law and Order) Ashok Kumar handed over the investigation to a Special Task Force (STF). After a probe, Sharma and the three policemen were arrested on April 16.

All three police officials were also placed under suspension. The vehicle used in the crime has also been seized. "We have started proceedings to dismiss the three policemen from service," said Kumar.

The accused policemen are also planning to seek bail and move a Dehradun court shortly.

--IANS

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