4 CRPF men held for looting jeweller

BHUBANESWAR: In an embarrassment for the para-military force, four Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, patrolling the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, were arrested by Nabarangpur Police on Friday for looting a jeweller of the neighbouring State two days before the Umerkote by-election. The four included an Assistant Commandant.Police recovered Rs 6.62 lakh cash and over 220 gram gold from their possession. The jeweller, Sohan Golchha, identified the four personnel in the presence of District SP Niti Sekhar.The CRPF men were identified as Assistant Commandant Ram Das Meena, Head Constable Jagga Singh and sepoys Ajit Das and Bashir Ahmed.According to Sohan, the incident took place while he was returning from a daily “haat” at Raighar’s Hatagharandi on November 28. His vehicle was intercepted by the CRPF patrol team at Khiloli camp. Khiloli is a small village on Odisha border. During search of the vehicle, the CRPF men apparently came across Sohan’s jewellery boxes and accused him of illegal trade practices.Sohan and his driver were escorted to Khiloli UP School where they were intimidated and even kept in confinement, the complainant said. The CRPF men asked the trader to get cash and walk away free, which he did. He called up his family at Nagra in Chhattisgarh to get the cash.When the money reached the CRPF men, they freed the trader and his driver and handed over the jewellery boxes. He was also asked to keep quiet or face bullets.Later, Sohan opened the boxes and found out that gold and silver had been emptied.On November 29, he lodged a complaint with Dhamteri police station in his State alleging that the CRPF men looted 750 gram gold, 5 kg silver along with over Rs 6 lakh cash. He also registered a case at Kundei police station in Nabarangpur.When the matter came to the SP’s notice, he ordered an immediate probe. The four were rounded up and a TI parade conducted. The cash and jewellery were later recovered.