Cops in a tizzy over locating cheque, cash

Aneesha Sareen

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 28

In the six-year-old infamous teachers’ recruitment scam, the UT police are groping in the dark to find crucial pieces of evidence in the form of a cheque for Rs 3.2 lakh and cash of Rs 5,000, which comprise the case property. These were allegedly taken by the accused, Jolly, from the complainant before the scam was unearthed. The prosecution today moved an application to summon the then malkhana munshi, Ranvir Singh, who was on duty in 2009 to enquire about the particular case property. The court has accepted the application and issued summons to the then munshi of the Industrial Area police station to appear in court on the next date of hearing on September 8.

In 2009, the Chandigarh Education Department had initiated a process to recruit 536 teachers for different government schools. It was alleged that two persons, Jolly and Hardev Singh, had approached one of the candidates, Kamalpreet Kaur of Kharar, with an assured job in lieu of Rs 4.5 lakh. The UT police had registered a case and arrested the two in a cheating case. Later, the case was transferred to the Delhi CBI, which had submitted a chargesheet against the two accused in 2013.

In the resumed hearing of the case today in the court of CBI Magistrate Anubhav Sharma, the prosecution moved an application under Section 311 of the CrPC (powers of court to summon a material witness) after it came to light that the cheque, which was given to the accused by the complainant before the police laid a trap, had not been traced. The cheque was allegedly given in favour of the accused, Jolly, by the complainant and was a “self cheque”. Similarly, cash amounting to Rs 5,000 was also not available with the police, hinting that it could have been misplaced.

Former ADC a witness

Former UT ADC PS Shergill on Tuesday deposed in the court in the case as he has been made a witness in the chargesheet filed by the CBI. The complainant in the case was known to him and it was he who had then tipped off then SP, Madhur Verma, who had then arrested the accused.

Cops had let off then DPI

Police investigations had revealed that one of the accused, Jolly, was constantly in touch with the then DPI, Samwartak Singh, and hundreds of calls had been exchanged between the two. However, while investigating the matter, the Chandigarh Police let off Samwartak. The case was transferred to the CBI on the directions of the High Court.