Jail warder held for burglaries from residences in Police Lines

According to the police, the warder was identified as Jasvinder Singh of Sirsa, who was posted at the Nimka jail in Faridabad. The police recovered ₹1.11 lakh and jewellery worth ₹5 lakh from his possession.

The police arrested a 40-year-old jail warder in Faridabad last week in connection with a series of burglaries at residences in Police Lines of Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar, Jind and Kaithal. He was sent to judicial custody on Tuesday, following six days police of police remand.

Sangwan said that Singh started committing burglaries in early 2019 and in 2020, he was arrested in Kaithal district. (Getty images. Representative image)

According to the police, the warder was identified as Jasvinder Singh of Sirsa, who was posted at the Nimka jail in Faridabad. The police recovered ₹1.11 lakh and jewellery worth ₹5 lakh from his possession.

Preet Pal Sangwan, the assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that Singh is a habitual offender and used to target locked houses of police personnel. “He is a habitual drinker, gambler and drug addict. He started committing crimes to fund his addiction. He was suspended from service after his arrest, but was reinstated. Despite being arrested from Kaithal last year and spending six months in jail, he did not mend his ways and again started striking locked houses in Police Lines,” he said.

The police said that Singh joined the prison department as a jail warden in 2003 and lived with his wife and 10-year-old son at the official residence inside the jail premises.

Sangwan said that Singh started committing burglaries in early 2019 and in 2020, he was arrested in Kaithal district. He was suspended and sent to jail. After six months, he was released on bail and was allowed to resume his duty as a jail warder. “He has been involved in over a dozen of thefts, three in Faridabad, one in Gurugram followed by one each in Hisar and Jind,” he said.

The crime investigation unit of Gurugram tracked him while investigating an incident on December 3, 2020, wherein he was found to have broken into the residence of a head constable while wearing his police uniform.

The head constable, Rakesh Kumar, was away with his family when the incident took place. Singh used to take only cash and jewellery, the police said.

Almost after six months, the crime unit of Sector 17 recover leads based on CCTV footage and arrested Singh from Faridabad. During the investigation, it was revealed that he used to sell the jewellery to goldsmiths in Hisar and Sirsa.

Sangwan said the suspect took advantage of his khakis, as it was similar to that of the police. He was never questioned by the guards and easily made entry to Police Lines. “He managed to enter and exit Police Lines easily, without any suspicion. Even when he lingered around the Police Line to look for a locked house, no one suspected him as he looked like a cop,” he said.

The police teams are also questioning the jewellers Singh was in contact with to get an estimate of the total ornaments sold in the past two years.