Nearly eight years after ₹ 1.66 lakh was deposited in the malkhana of Division No. 3 police station as case property, the cash has gone missing, triggering the registration of an FIR against a dismissed head constable who once held charge of the malkhana.
The head constable, Malkit Singh, was dismissed from service years ago in connection with another cash-misappropriation case, officials said.
Both officials signed the register, establishing that the cash had formally come into Malkit’s custody. Malkit Singh, who was the munshi at Division No. The case has raised questions over how case property could disappear from police custody and remain unaccounted for years despite being formally recorded in the malkhana register. Four persons, including Saurav Arora, Vijay Kumar alias Sonu, Narinder Kumar and Vijay Kumar Verma, were arrested and the cash was seized. The money was deposited in the malkhana on the same day. When the malkhana was subsequently scrutinised, the seized cash was nowhere to be found. This reportedly created difficulties for police officials in depositing and retrieving case property. The present head munshi, Manjit Singh, who took charge at Division No. Investigators then turned their attention to the officer who had originally received it.
3 police station, has been booked under Section 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly misappropriating ₹ 1,66,160 that was recovered in connection with a gambling case registered in 2018. The cash was seized on January 3, 2018, when a police team led by the then police post in-charge Surinder Singh conducted a raid near Trikoni Park, Kashmir Nagar Chowk, following information about alleged illegal lottery and betting operations. The gambling case ended with the accused being acquitted by a court on September 5, 2019. 3 police station, Malkit continued to possess the malkhana keys even after the case was registered. 3 police station in July 2025, also told police officials that the cash was not included in the property handed over to him. Malkit was contacted on August 25, 2026, and asked to join the inquiry and explain his position.
Because malkit Singh had already come under the police radar in connection with another alleged misappropriation involving ₹ 22 lakh, the disappearance assumes significance.
Then munshi Dilbag Singh, a head constable, handed over charge of the malkhana, including the cash, to Malkit Singh when he was transferred, according to the police report. Station house officer at Division No, according to the FIR registered on the complaint of inspector Gurjit Singh. Police said he assured them that he would appear by evening, but he did not join the investigation.
