EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Sept 12: The Crime Branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday searched the house of a former jail superintendent here in connection with a case related to the alleged misappropriation of antique coins that were recovered in Kot Bhalwal jail premises eight years ago, a spokesman of the investigation agency said.
The residential house of the then superintendent, Kot Bhalwal jail, Rajni Sehgal, in Jammu city was searched by a team of the crime branch after a search warrant was obtained from a local court, he said.
In June 2015, the crime branch had registered a case against four jail officials including Sehgal for allegedly trying to pocket nearly 400 gold and copper coins belonging to 12th and 13th century AD that were found by convicts lodged in the Central Jail premises during digging of earth for kitchen gardening.
"During investigation of the case it has been established that antique coins were recovered by the jail convicts in the month of September 2012 and were handed over to Sehgal on the same day by an official of the Jail," the spokesman said. However, he said Sehgal intentionally did not inform her senior officers about the recovery till December 2012 in order to "misappropriate" the ancient coins.
"When the news regarding recovery leaked, she hurriedly handed over some coins to the officer of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which as per the record of the recovery was less than what had been actually recovered," the spokesman said.
As per the reports, Sehgal only showed the recovery of 107 coins in November 2012. The coins belonged to the period of Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban, the ninth sultan of Mamluk dynasty of Delhi, Ala-ud-din Khilji, the second ruler of Khilji dynasty, and Muhammad Ghori, the founder of the Turkish Empire in India. |
