Ludhiana: 25 years after sten gun went missing, FIR filed against three

Ludhiana rural police had given a clean chit to the accused before 2007 and had ordered the accused to deposit double the amount of the price of the sten gun and ammunition along with 25% of the price of the weapon as miscellaneous charges as punishment. However, the office of the director general of police (DGP) has cancelled the orders and ordered an FIR

Almost 25 years after a sten gun along with 20 bullets went missing from the Sadar Raikot police station, the Ludhiana rural police lodged an FIR against three cops. Two out of the three accused have already retired, while the third one is still serving as a head constable.

Ludhiana rural police had given a clean chit to the accused before 2007 claiming that losing the sten gun and bullets was carelessness on the part of the accused and they had no other intentions in losing the weapon. SSP said an FIR has been registered under Sections 409 of the IPC. (HT FILE)

The accused have been identified as retired head constables Jagroop Singh and Rajinder pal Singh and SPO Ajit Singh, who is now serving as a head constable.

However, the Ludhiana rural police had given a clean chit to the accused before 2007 claiming that losing the sten gun and bullets was carelessness on the part of the accused and they had no other intentions in losing the weapon. The Ludhiana rural police had ordered the accused to deposit double the amount of the price of the weapon and ammunition along with 25% of the price of the weapon as miscellaneous charges as punishment. However, the office of the director general of police (DGP) has cancelled the orders and ordered an FIR.

The district attorney had also asked the police to lodge an FIR against the accused on April 14, 2009, but the police remained unmoved and did not lodge an FIR. After the DGP office asked about the progress, the senior superintendent of police (SSP, Ludhiana Rural), Harjeet Singh ordered an FIR.

The matter came to the fore in 2004 after the department conducted an audit of the weapons. They found a sten gun along with 20 bullets missing following which an investigation was initiated.

During investigation, the department found that the sten gun along with the bullets were allotted to then head constable Jagroop Singh, then head constable Rajinder pal Singh and SPO Ajit Singh, who were deputed in the security of Manjit Singh of Jagraon road of Raikot. However, they had lost the weapon. The department tried to trace the weapon but to no avail.

The SSP added that a case under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the IPC has been registered against the accused. The police will arrest all three accused.