CBI announces Rs 10 lakh reward for elusive IPS officer

In a first of its own kind, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone leading to the arrest of a serving but absconding Additional Director General of Rajasthan Police A K Jain in a fake encounter killing case of 2006.

The CBI said anyone giving information leading to the arrest of Jain, a 1978 batch Indian Police Service officer of Rajasthan cadre, will be rewarded with Rs 10 lakh. He has been declared a proclaimed offender.

This is for the first time that a cash reward has been announced against such a senior IPS officer.

Besides Jain, CBI also announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh each against Inspector Rajesh Chowdhury and Zulfikar and Assistant Sub Inspector Arvind.

In its chargesheet filed last year in June, CBI had alleged Dara Singh, a liquor smuggler, was taken into illegal custody by the SOG officials from Jaipur Airport and was taken to a lonely place near Amber where he was kept hostage till October 23, 2006, when he was killed in a planned manner.

"The circumstantial evidence shows clearly that Dara was murdered in cold blood by SOG personnel and the same was duly monitored by ADG Police A K Jain, SP SOG A Ponnuchammi and Additional SP Arshad Ali along with other officials and during this entire period Rajendra Rathore (a sitting Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly) was on telephonic touch with Jain, ADGP," the chargesheet said.

However, the police had claimed Dara was fleeing from its custody when he was shot.