Hosiery worker accused of stealing ₹26 lakh from Ludhiana held in Bihar

Ludhiana police said they were in process of questioning the accused to recover the money, but he claimed that there was only ₹15 lakh in the bag

Daresi police claimed to have solved a ₹26-lakh burglary case with the arrest of a hosiery worker, who had fled to Bihar with a bag containing cash and cheque books of his employer.

Ludhiana assistant commissioner of police (north) said they had formed several teams to nab the accused, one of which was dispatched to Bihar. (Image for representational purpose)

The police arrested the accused, Rajesh Prajapati, from Rafiganj railway station in Aurangabad of Bihar as soon as he alighted from a train. The police have recovered ₹15 lakh from his possession.

Daresi station house officer Davinder Singh said they were in process of questioning the accused to recover the remaining money, but he claimed that there was only ₹15 lakh in the bag.

The accused, who was working in a hosiery factory in Sundar Nagar, had on October 24 stolen the bag containing cash and fled.

A case under Section 381 of the IPC was registered against him. He was in contact with his wife over the phone after the incident, through which the police traced him.

Assistant commissioner of police (north) Dharmpal said they had formed several teams to nab the accused. “One of the teams was dispatched to Bihar. The team on Friday arrested the accused from Rafiganj railway station before he could reach his home,” he added.

The accused told the police that he had seen his employer keeping cash in a drawer. “Rajesh said he had never seen such a huge amount of money, so he decided to steal it,” the ACP said.

The hosiery unit owner has around 150 employees and he has not got police verification of any of the workers done.