Alirajpur (MP), Jul 23: An FIR has been registered against four policemen for allegedly stealing 240 gold coins from a tribal family after thrashing one of the family members in Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Sunday.
All four police personnel, including the Sondwa police station house officer and three constables, have been suspended, Superintendent of Police Hansraj Singh told PTI.
Queried how the tribal family got the gold coins, the SP said the complainant claimed they had stumbled upon the coins while digging in Gujarat.
A case of theft has been registered against the four personnel under section 379 of the Indian Penal Code, he said.
The FIR, however, named only one constable while three other police personnel are named as unidentified accused.
When asked about this, Singh said the suspension is based on "reasonable confirmation".
"Besides, we want the ongoing inquiry to be impartial and fair and ensure no one influences it," Singh said.
He said a complaint was lodged by one Shambhu Singh claiming that four personnel of Sondwa police station came to his house in Baijda village on July 19.
"They thrashed the complainant's wife and took away 240 gold coins buried in the house," the SP said quoting the First Information Report.
The family named only one policeman in the FIR on July 20 but they named three others, including the inspector, on July 21, the SP added.
The complainant claimed he had stumbled upon gold coins when he and his family members were working as labourers in Gujarat, he said.
"They hid the coins under the ground in their house in Alirajpur district," Singh said.
Alirajpur Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Shraddha Sonkar investigated the complaint after which the four policemen were suspended and FIR was registered.
On Sunday, former Alirajpur MLA and Madhya Pradesh BJP vice president, Nagar Singh Chauhan, and others gheraoed Sondwa police station for two hours.
He demanded the four policemen be booked on the charge of looting instead of theft and gold coins be recovered.
They threatened to call for a bandh in Sondwa if the four police personnel are not arrested by Tuesday.
The superintendent of police said arrests would be made based on evidence.
He said the complainant brought one of the gold coins to the police which weighed 7.98 gm. The British-era coin, dating back to 1922, was 90 per cent pure gold.
"They brought one of the coins to us yesterday (Saturday) saying that it was from the lot that was stolen," the SP said.
He said a team has been sent to Gujarat to investigate the ruins from where the complaint claimed to have got the gold coins while digging.
Tribal men and women from Alirajpur, Jhabua and other districts in MP often travel to Gujarat and Rajasthan to eke out a living.
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Srinagar, May 14 (PTI): An FIR was registered on Wednesday against a missing soldier after a video appeared on social media in which he had claimed that the Pahalgam terror attack was an "inside job".
The soldier, Dlhair Mushtaq Sofi, is a sepoy of 29 Rashtriya Rifles and a resident of the Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, according to police.
"The missing report... was lodged on 11.03. 2025. (It) has been converted into an FIR after a video showing him surfaced on social media," a police official said.
In the video, Sofi claims that he is aware of "each and everything and how fake encounters are being done."
"Indian government, RAW, IB and Army were involved in the Pahalgam attack. I wanted to stay silent, but my conscience does not allow me to remain silent anymore," says the soldier in the video.
The soldier also mentions that his parents had committed a mistake by making him join the armed forces.
The police official said the video, verified by Sofi's father and uncle, prompted the registration of FIR No. 75/2025 under Sections 197(d), 152 BNS at Police Station Ganderbal.
Section 197 of the BNS deals with offences related to imputations, assertions or communications prejudicial to national integration. The section covers making false or misleading statements that could endanger India's sovereignty, unity, or integrity.
Section 152 deals with the acts endangering India's sovereignty, unity and integrity.
The police official said preliminary enquiry has revealed the soldier was involved in online gambling and had debts exceeding Rs 10 lakh.
An investigation has been initiated, the official added.