4 held in Giriraj Singh’s house robbery, Rs.1.14 crore in cash and jewellery recovered

Mangalore Today News Network

Patna, July 9, 2014:  Four persons were on Tuesday arrested in connection with a burglary in BJP MP Giriraj Singh’s house here and Rs.1.14 crore cash, 600 US dollars, gold and silver jewellery and six luxury watches purportedly stolen from there recovered, police said.

 

The four accused including the Nawada MP’s bodyguard, domestic servant, apartment security guard and another accomplice entered his flat yesterday when he was away in Delhi, they said.

Singh, who is in Delhi for the Parliament session, was not immediately available for comments.

"It was a well planned theft. The arrested persons had inside knowledge about the valuables kept in the MP’s flat.

They broke the locks, collected everything in four suitcases and decamped with the booty. They had even hired an autorickshaw to take the stolen goods," Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Manu Maharaj said.

A special investigation team was set up track the culprits and all important roads of Patna were kept under surveillance, he said.

Police were today alerted about a person moving with four suitcases from Gandhi Maidan area to Sultanganj under suspicious circumstances, he said.

The accused, who was trying to flee to Hajipur, was nabbed by police and all valuables believed to have been stolen from the MP’s flat were recovered from him, Maharaj said, adding, based on his inputs the others were promptly nabbed.

Police calimed that the total recovery comprising the valuables and the cash is around Rs.two crore.

Meanwhile, SSP Manu Maharaj said the police has informed the Income Tax (IT) Department about the huge amount of cash belonging to the MP. The taxmen have started their investigations into the matter.

"As a normal procedure whenever we recover a big amount of cash, we have informed the IT Department. It has sent a team and has started probing the matter. As far as the recovery of dollars is concerned, we will decided in a couple of days whether to inform the Enforcement Directorate (ED)," said Maharaj.

The issue has provided an opportunity to JD(U) against its rival BJP.

"How this much of cash was kept at Giriraj Singh’s house and from where it came should be probed. The police should investigate this," Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary told reporters.

State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Shyam Rajak alleged that Singh had kept the money to give it to top BJP leaders to become a minister in the Union cabinet.

"The matter should be investigated. This is not a normal amount of money. Did Singh keep it with himself to pay to somebody to become a minister or is it part of some conspiracy by former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi to discredit Singh because his name was cropping up as a potential Union Minister," Rajak said.

Giriraj Singh could not be contacted over the issue.

He is said to be in New Delhi and his mobile is switched off.