Keeping count: Rajasthan cops dazed after court clerk returns Rs 78 lakh he stole

For cops in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur, arresting a clerk accused of siphoning court funds was hardly a task, for he surrendered before the court on Friday.

For cops in Rajasthan’s Dungarpur, arresting a clerk accused of siphoning court funds was hardly a task, for he surrendered before the court on Friday.

Five policemen were assigned the task of counting the money. (HT Photo)

But what became overwhelming was what the accused Pankaj Chaubeesa had in store for them — counting the Rs 74.85 lakh cash he brought back in three carry bags, two iron trunks and a suitcase.

With the counting machine becoming inoperative, the SHO Kotwali, Gajendra Singh assigned the task to five policemen who took as many hours to count the money, which also had old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

Dungarpur district court authorities had found that penalty amounts collected from offenders were not reaching the treasury and conducted an enquiry in which Chaubeesa’s role emerged, SHO Singh said.

Chaubeesa later told police that initially, he had failed to deposit some money by mistake in 2010 and did not tell senior officials out of fear. Later, he started siphoning off money regularly.

An FIR was registered against him on Wednesday, stating that an amount of Rs 1.03 crore was missing, after he failed to appear before the court despite being summoned repeatedly.

When Chaubeesa arrived with the six bags/trunks at the court premises on Friday morning, he drew a lot of attention from onlookers, who gathered around him started taking pictures on their mobile phones.

Chaubeesa is in police custody and the investigation is still on, police said.