Bihar’s Vaishali: FIR lodged against suspended copsin gold stealing case

The suspended SHO Santosh Kumar and SI Sumanji Jha were named as an accused in an FIR of the allegation of hiding seized gold/silver jewellery besides lakhs of rupees from the house of a burglar Rampreet Sahni at Bilanpur village under Lalganj police station area

An FIR has been lodged against four police personnel, including a suspended SHO and sub-inspector of Lalganj police station (Vaishali) who siphoned off gold/silver ornaments recovered from the house of a burglary suspect during the raid on December 30 last year.

Bihar’s Vaishali: FIR lodged against suspended copsin gold stealing case

The suspended SHO Santosh Kumar and SI Sumanji Jha were named as an accused in an FIR of the allegation of hiding seized gold/silver jewellery besides lakhs of rupees from the house of a burglar Rampreet Sahni at Bilanpur village under Lalganj police station area.

On Monday, Tirhut range DIG Chandan Kumar Kushwaha and CID SP Pramod Kumar Yadav investigated the matter after reaching the spot. The Tirhut DIG, SP CID with FSL team inspected the house of Sahni and found the earth was dug and soil kept under the bed (chowki).

On December 30, the Sadar SDPO-2 Gopal Mandal had claimed the police raided Sahni’s house and recovered stolen articles from his house while his wife, Kaushalya Devi, was arrested and forwarded to judicial custody. In the press conference, SDPO Mandal informed that SHO Santosh Kumar had received information that a lot of stolen items were kept in Sahni’s house.

On the basis of information, a police team led by SHO conducted a raid at Sahni’s house but five of the suspects, including Sahni, fled from the spot. During the search of the house police detained Sahni’s wife. During interrogation, she admitted that her husband along with associates committed thefts and burglaries in different localities.

However, the locals and Sahni’s relatives claim that the Lalganj police failed to display seized gold/silver ornaments and cash during the press conference and alleged that the police had hidden a huge amount of cash and jewellery. Gena Lal Sahni, a relative of absconding Rampreet Sahni, alleged that the police took away ₹50 lakh cash, two kilograms gold and six kilograms silver ornaments which were hidden inside the earth. Police did not show anywhere in the seizure list. “The police show only three TVs, two live cartridges, one empty cartridge and utensils,” claimed Gena Lal.

After the investigation, the DIG clarified that prima facie the allegations were found true and directed that an FIR be registered against the concerned police officer. If found guilty, the accused officers will face strict departmental action, the DIG added.

TO BE TAKEN ONLY IF SPACE PERMITS

“At the time of the raid, video recording was not made and the recovered gold and cash amount were not mentioned in the seizure list according to the BNSS act. The allegations made against the police team involved in the raid have been found prima-facie correct. The case is being investigated in depth,” said the DIG.

Earlier, Vaishali SP Lalit Mohan Sharma, who was on medical leave, ordered a fair and transparent investigation into the allegation when he joined his duty. The investigation was handed over to Additional SP (Traffic) Prem Sagar. On the directive of DIG, Lalganj SHO Santosh Kumar and SI Sumanji Jha were suspended. Suman Jha said to be a tainted police officer. On September 4, 2024 Jha was caught red-handed by vigilance investigation bureau (VIB) while accepting a bribe of ₹11,000 during his posting in Muzaffarpur. The trap case is still pending in the Muzaffarpur vigilance court.

While talking to HT, the Vaishali SP said the entire raid/search action of the Sahni’s house could not be recorded as per rule. Senior police officials of police headquarters said this is not an isolated case. Earlier in October 2025 (Deepawali) the Chowk police station of state capital raided a cracker shop in Sarai Gali locality seized cash of ₹14 lakh and crackers worth ₹20 lakh but police did not hand over the seizure to its owner and register a case against unidentified person. The matter is under investigation.

Earlier on December 31, the Patna rail police arrested the SHO of Gaya GRP Rajesh Kumar Singh involved in four gold biscuit robbery from a passenger-cum-employee of a gold trader in the running train between Koderma and Gaya rail section. Four of his close associates-cum-constables involved in the incident have been suspended while raids are on against the suspended constables and their two civilian aides. The investigation so far has made it clear that it was not an isolated case, as a criminal-police nexus carried out such an operation on the Grand Chord Line connecting Howrah and Delhi via Gaya, through which transportation of costly metals is common by traders to avoid heavy taxes.