George Cross auction: Himachal makes arrest,confident sale will stop

Himachal Pradesh Addl DGP (CID) I D Bhandari said: I think we are close to solving the mystery of the George Cross medal. Police have sufficient evidence to convince the auction house,and also the Scotland Yard,about the medal being stolen and the forgery involved. They are in the loop and are willing to concede the request for putting off the auction. The final word may come tomorrow.

Police have arrested Kirpal Singh,son of Makkhan Singh of Moga in Punjab,who had claimed in an affidavit that the widow of Naik Kirpa Ram had gifted him the rare medal in 2000 and that he had later handed it over to one S L Jain,a Delhi-based dealer.

But Brahmi Devi,who in 2002 lodged an FIR to report the theft,has told Bilaspur SP Kuldeep Sharma that she never gifted the medal to anyone nor did she know any Kirpal Singh. Sharma said Kirpal Singh was being brought to Bilaspur for questioning. The 2002 case is being reopened and fresh charges will be applied,police said.

Former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar,a Rajya Sabha MP,told The Indian Express over phone that he has already given notice to raise the issue and seek the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs to stop the auction. Rajesh Dharmani,MLA from Gumarhwin (Bilaspur),said: We want the auction stopped,the Bilaspur case re-investigated and the guilty punished.