Chandigarh, April 14, 2019: The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today urged the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to order an independent probe into the brazen loot of Rs 6.65 crore by a Khanna police team from the residence of a Christian priest, saying this money could be misused by the Congress party and its leaders in the forthcoming parliamentary polls.
In a statement here, SAD senior vice president Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said it was of paramount importance to find out where the money trail led. “We have reason to believe that this money could find its way into the hands of the Congress party and its leaders and be used to influence voters in the forthcoming parliamentary. Only an independent probe can prevent this and ensure those guilty of this crime are brought to book”, he added.
Giving further details, the SAD leader said the Khanna Police had been exposed by the SIT which had been appointed to probe the case but even the SIT could not proceed against the Congress party or its leaders. He said as per the latest information it had been ascertained that two Assistant Sub Inspectors and a police informer had made off with Rs 6.65 crore and now the police force was looking out for the three accused. “It seems very doubtful that two low level police officials could have committed this crime without any political patronage. The SIT is constrained because it reports to the Congress government and cannot explore this angle of inquiry. This is why an independent probe supervised by the Election Commission is necessary to get to the bottom of this case”, Dr Cheema added.
The Akali leader also demanded registration of appropriate cases against all police officers of the Khanna police who had tried to give a clean chit to the police force after a Christian priest Father Anthony Madasserry claimed that Rs 16.32 crore had been seized by the Khanna police from his residence but the authorities had only shown a recovery of Rs 9.66 crore only. “The Khanna police did its utmost to discredit Father Madasserry and refused any wrong doing on its part. However witness accounts of bank officials of South Indian Bank who counted the money as well as CCTV footage nailed the lies of the Khanna police”. He also demanded an investigation into why the Khanna police had falsely claimed that it seized the money from Doraha when it violated its jurisdiction and seized the money from the priest’s house in Jalandhar.
Dr Cheema said despite it being more than a fortnight since the loot of Rs 6.65 crore from the Christian priest the State police was still searching in the dark for the accused who had been identified as their own. “It seems the State police have deliberately given time to the accused cops and the police informer to flee. It seems powerful forces who are behind this robbery don’t want their pawns to be arrested as this will lift the lid off the entire conspiracy. This could be the only reason behind the lethargic approach in going after the accused cops”, Dr Cheema said while demanding an independent and transparent investigation into the entire case