Mizoram government is mulling handing over the December 14 dacoity case, allegedly involving the then Commandant of an Assam Rifles battalion, to the CBI, state Home Minister R Lalzirliana said here today.
The government is contemplating handing over the case to CBI as the accused Col Jasjit Singh, suspended Commandant of 39th Battalion, was yet to divulge details about the concealed gold bars, worth Rs 14.5 crore, allegedly snatched by the arrested eight Assam Rifles personnel from a vehicle on the night of December 14 last on the outskirts of Aizawl, Lalzirliana told PTI.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the state police did a commendable job by arresting 13 people including Col Singh, eight personnel and four civilians in connection with the case, he said.
"Reports of highly-placed people involved in the case and also Col Singh's refusal to give details may force us to hand over the case to the CBI," the Home Minister said.
The arrested jawans allegedly waylaid a vehicle on the southern outskirts of Aizawl near 'Zampuimanga Memorial' with sophisticated weapons and allegedly decamped with 52 gold bars concealed inside the gear box of the vehicle, the investigators had said earlier.
The jawans allegedly told the interrogators that the gold bars recovered during the dacoity was kept by Naib Subedar K C Roy, Commander of the group, on the night of December 14 and it was handed over to Col Singh next morning at the latter's official residence in Tuikhuahtlang locality here.
The gold bars, believed to be smuggled from Myanmar via Champhai district, were worth around Rs 14.5 crore in the local market.
