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Ludhiana: In a major embarrassment for the Ludhiana Rural Police, a senior constable was arrested on Thursday for allegedly siphoning off ₹1.25 crore in drug money kept inside the malkhana (case property strongroom) of Sidhwan Bet police station.
The theft came to light during a court hearing in a 2023 NDPS case, when the judge ordered the opening of four sealed parcels containing case property. According to the FIR, when the seals were broken in the court of Additional Sessions Judge Parminder Kaur, the cash was missing — exposing the use of fake seals installed after the money had been removed.
Senior constable Gurdas Singh, the head munshi and custodian of the malkhana, was booked under Section 316(5) (criminal breach of trust by a public servant) of the BNS and arrested on the complaint of SHO Inspector Hira Singh. DIG (Ludhiana Range) Satinder Singh said the police have already recovered ₹7–8 lakh from the accused officer. “He admitted he took the money, gave some to a relative, and lost some in gambling. Every single penny will be recovered,” the DIG said.
A senior investigating officer present in court called it an “embarrassing moment”, adding that the boxes were discovered empty, with counterfeit seals applied to hide the theft. Ludhiana Rural SSP Ankur Gupta said a three-member committee headed by the SP (Investigation) has been formed to probe the case. “He had the only keys to the strongroom. We are also checking the malkhana to ensure nothing else has been stolen.” Police say investigation is underway to determine how the fake seals were created and whether more individuals were involved.
