Rajasthan ADGP surrenders before CBI court

Absconding Additional Director General of Rajasthan Police A K Jain, wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation for his alleged role in the fake encounter death of a local liquor smuggler, on Monday surrendered before a special court here.

Fifty-nine-year-old Jain had gone absconding after the CBI filed a chargesheet against him last June accusing him of masterminding the fake encounter of Dara Singh.

The court immediately sent him to judicial custody and the CBI would be moving for his remand on Tuesday.  The CBI had mounted a lot of pressure on Jain and had revoked his passport besides declaring him a proclaimed offender and also announcing a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on information leading to his arrest.

The agency had initiated the process of securing an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him as there was no information available about the whereabouts of Jain, a 1978 batch Indian Police Service officer.

It was not immediately clear as to whether he had arrived from Singapore or was hiding somewhere in the country. Jain has been named by the CBI in its chargesheet filed on June 4 last year accusing him of allegedly killing Singh in 2006 when he was heading the Special Operations Group of Rajasthan Police.

This is for the first time in the history of inception of Indian Police Service that such a senior police officer has been declared as a proclaimed offender.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, had alleged that Singh 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 after 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 Additional Director General of 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 charge sheet said.

Police had claimed that Singh was killed while fleeing from its custody.

CBI alleged there was an animosity over supporting rival gangs of liquor smugglers between Rathore and Singh, a criminal and a bootlegger operating in Rajasthan and Haryana who was facing several cases including those of attempt to murder and smuggling.

"There were two rival liquor mafias in Churu and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan. One was headed by Sumer Singh Fagediya and included Vijendra Singh, alias Tilaia, and

Dara Singh. The othergroup, ruled by one Virender Singh Nyangli, was protected by the then BJP minister and present MLA Rajender Singh Rathore," the chargesheet said.

"The animosity among Vijendra Singh, Dara Singh and Rajendra Rathore increased in 2003-2005 and even turned into personal animosity. Rathore even tried to reopen a false case against Dara Singh and his aide Vijender Singh in December 2005," it further said.