George Cross not to be auctioned

Finally,the George Cross medal of Naik Kirpa Ram,reported stolen from his widow Brahmi Devi,will not be auctioned by London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb DNW.

About 24 hours before the auction,vendor Ashok Nath sent an email to Additional Director General of Police CID I D Bhandari,saying he had withdrawn the medal from the auction. Favouring a thorough and proper investigation to find out the truth behind the medals story,he asserted that he had acquired the medal from S L Jain,a Delhi-based coin and metal dealer,nine years ago much before an FIR relating to its theft was lodged by the widow.

Mimrod Dix,managing director of DNW,forwarded Naths note to the Himachal Pradesh police.

The auction was scheduled for December 2.

The breakthrough came due to intense pressure built by the state to protect the honour and dignity of the bravery medal which Naik Kirpa Ram was awarded by the British in 1946, said Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Brahmi Devi,who arrived here to meet Bhandari and clarified that she neither gifted nor sold the medal,also met Dhumal and thanked him for the efforts to stop the auction. I had lived with this medal for 56 years. I will die relieved if it comes back to the soil of my brave husband, she told The Indian Express.

In his mail,the vendor asserted that he had two affidavits in his possession which convinced him to purchase the medal from the Delhi dealer. He extended his sympathies to Brahmi Devi and added there appears to be a legal and moral/humane side to this rather sad story. I will be the first person to instruct the auction firm to return the medal to her,should it be found that it was stolen. In case,it is found that she did indeed give the medal to Kirpal Singh,a Moga person arrested in the case,she will still have my sympathy. She is obviously a victim of her circumstances. I hope something good will eventually come out of all this.

Nath also expressed concern that India had not set up any Armed Forces Museum,though the countrys Army was rated as second to none with a rich and gallant history.

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Back home at Bilaspur,Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Sharma said,The police have sent a team to Delhi along with Kirpal Singh for further investigations. We have been able to trace the affidavit vendor and two witnesses. Kirpal Singh was also brought face to face with Brahmi Devi.

High Court praises Express report

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court,which had regarded as a PIL The Indian Express report on the theft of one of the George Cross medals on Tuesday directed the state government to complete investigations into the case within eight weeks and thereafter file necessary challans against the accused. Investigations be completed within a period of eight weeks from today, the court ordered when the PIL came up for hearing. Earlier,the court had issued notices to the state and central government on November 27,a day after The Indian Express published the story about the proposed auction of the bravery medal. The order was passed by a division bench,comprising acting Chief Justice R B Mishra and Justice Rajiv Sharma,which also appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of External Affairs,state government and The Indian Express for taking up the issue. ENS