MP hawala money loot case: Head constable held by SIT, 11th arrest so far

Seoni (MP), Oct 16 (PTI) The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by police authorities in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh has made its 11th arrest in the hawala money loot case, an official said on Thursday.

Head constable Rajesh Janghela was held late Wednesday night and will be produced in the court for police remand, the official added. Ten accused, including Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Pooja Pandey, were held on Tuesday night and have been remanded in police custody till October 17.

Pandey and 10 others on patrol and checking duty at Siladehi bypass of national highway number 44 in Seoni on the night of October 8-9 are accused of intercepting a car travelling from Katni to Nagpur in neighbouring Maharashtra with Rs 2.96 crore in hawala money.

Instead of registering a case, the 11 decided to divide the money among themselves after allowing the car occupants to proceed further, as per police. The alleged hawala operator was also dissuaded from registering a case.

The SDOP and 10 others were booked by Lakhnawada police on October 14 under various offences, including robbery and kidnapping.

"So far, the SIT has seized Rs 2.70 crore, including Rs 1.45 crore from SDOP Pooja Pandey and sub inspector Arpit Bhairam. A sum of Rs 1.25 crore was seized from Akash Jain and Aman Gurnani of Nagpur," the official said.

Two vehicles used in the arrest of hawala operators on the night of October 8-9, as well as the WagonR car of the SDOP's reader Ravindra Uikey have been seized, SIT in-charge Jitendra Singh told PTI on Thursday.

A crime scene map has been created and all those involved are being thoroughly questioned, he added.

The 11 held in the case are suspended SDOP Pooja Pandey, SI Arpit Bhairam, SDOP office driver Ritesh Verma, reader head constable Ravindra Uike, head constable Makhan Inwati, constables Yogendra Chaurasia, Jagdish Yadav, gunman Kedar Baghel, Subhash Sadafal, and Bandol police station constable Neeraj Rajput.

While Jabalpur Police Inspector General Pramod Kumar Verma assigned the preliminary investigation to City Superintendent of Police Ayush Gupta, an SIT was subsequently formed.

The probe in the hawala money case is being carried out by Crime Branch under Jabalpur ASP Jitendra Singh. PTI COR MAS BNM