Top cop surrenders in encounter case

A K Jain had been absconding since June 2011; CBI tried to contact Interpol for help

Additional Director General of Rajasthan police A K Jain, wanted by CBI for his role in an alleged fake encounter case, surrendered before a special court in Jaipur on Monday.

Jain, 59, had been absconding after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a chargesheet against him in June last year, accusing him of masterminding the fake encounter of Dara Singh.The special CBI court of judge Mahendra Singhal sent him to a day’s judicial custody. The CBI will move for his remand on Tuesday.

The CBI had mounted pressure on Jain and had revoked his passport, besides declaring him a “proclaimed offender”. It also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for giving information that may lead to his arrest. 

The agency had initiated the process of securing an Interpol ‘red corner notice’ against him on Saturday, as CBI suspected that Jain, a 1978-batch IPS officer, may have left India.

Jain has been named by the CBI in its chargesheet, accusing him of allegedly killing Singh in 2006 when he was heading the Special Operations Group (SOG)of Rajasthan police.

This is for the first time in the history of the Indian Police Service that such a senior officer has been declared a proclaimed offender. The CBI said Singh was taken into illegal custody by SOG officials from Jaipur airport and was taken to an isolated place near Amber. He was kept hostage till October 23, 2006 after which he was killed in cold blood.

“Circumstantial evidence clearly shows that Dara was murdered in cold blood by SOG personnel, and the act was monitored by A K Jain, SOG SP A Ponnuchammi and Additional SP Arshad Ali, along with other officials. During this period, BJP MLA Rajendra Rathore was in touch on telephone with Jain,” the chargesheet stated.

Police claimed that Singh was killed while fleeing from custody. But the CBI alleged that there was animosity over supporting rival gangs of liquor smugglers between Rathore and Singh. Singh was a bootlegger operating in Rajasthan and Haryana.