In a breakthrough in the Jalandhar priest’s missing money case, the special investigation team of the Punjab Police tracked down the two absconding Assistant Sub-Inspectors Joginder Singh and Rajpreet Singh, to Kochi, where they were arrested by the local police on Tuesday.
The two ASIs along with an informer are accused of misappropriating Rs 6.65 crore, allegedly seized during a raid by the Khanna police at the house Father Anthony Maddasery in Jalandhar on March 29.
They are accused of misappropriating around Rs six crore after conducting a raid at the residence of a priest.
A spokesperson of the Punjab Police said that the absconding ASI’s were tracked down to a private hotel in Kochi, Hotel Casa Linda, Fort Kochi, from where they were nabbed by the local police after specific information provided by the SIT.
The duo had checked into the hotel a day earlier and had hired a single room for themselves. They were picked up by the police around 4:30 PM.
DGP Punjab Police, Dinkar Gupta, immediately tweeted information about the suspects’ arrest, SIT officers, led by IGP, Crime and Investigations, Praveen K. Sinha, had left for Kochi to bring back the suspects to Punjab for further investigations.
A FIR against the ASIs and a police informer, Surinder Singh, who has been since arrested, was registered by the SIT on April 12 under various sections.
The spokesperson said that preliminary information received from Kochi police had revealed that the duo had checked into the hotel at about 4 PM on Monday and had taken up the single room after submitting Joginder Singh’s license as their proof of identity.