Cops probe George Crosss route to London

With just two days to go for the auction of the George Cross medal,which was reported stolen in 2002 from the home of the...

With just two days to go for the auction of the George Cross medal,which was reported stolen in 2002 from the home of the recipients wife in Himachal Pradesh,the state police on Monday intensified investigations to find out how the medal reached the London auction house.

The police have arrested a man from Moga in Punjab,Kirpal Singh,who acquired the medal from Brahmi Devi,the wife of Naik Kirpa Ram,the George Cross recipient.

Singh has been brought to Bilaspur for interrogation. He has told the police that he visited the Brahmi Devi twice and tried to buy the medal. He had also prepared an affidavit put up by London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb (DNW) on its website saying Brahmi Devi had gifted him the medal in the presence of two witnesses. The affidavit is dated June 2000.

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Brahmi Devi,however,denied on Monday she ever gifted the medal to anyone and added that it was stolen from her home. Her nephew Surender Thakur said: She doesnt remember Kirpal Singh ever visited her. However,she says two Sikh gentlemen in military uniform did pay her a visit to get some papers signed in lieu of paying Rs 50,000 as grant money. The issue of medal did not figure in talks with them.

The police were trying to string together all the information. There are some intriguing developments in the investigations. And conflicting versions and claims as to how the medal reached Kirpal Singh, said Additional Director General of Police (CID) I D Bhandari. I have asked the Superintendent of Police of Bilaspur to investigate all angles,including role of two local witnesses and also the modus operandi adopted by Kirpal Singh to get the medal.

On DNW going ahead with the auction of the medal,Bhandari said: We are asking them to put off the auction till the police gets to the root of the matter. Its however a fact that Kirpal Singh did visit Brahmi Devi as he knew about the medal and apparently managed to lay his hands through deceitful means.

In Bilaspur,the police questioned the two witnesses Sita Ram and Nirmala who had signed on affidavit that contain Brahmi Devis thumb impression and says that she has gifted the medal to Kirpal Singh. The contents of the affidavit (in English) were never read out to Brahmi Devi. The affidavit was also not attested before any magistrate. This is clear fraud and cheating, said S S Chandel,a retired IAS officer who first alerted the police about the auction.

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Bilaspur SP Kuldeep Sharma said he has sent a police party to Kharar in Punjab to get hold of a goldsmith,who according to Kirpal Singh,had advised him to buy the medal.