It began when a DIG of the CISF received a call Wednesday evening that a “suspicious vehicle” was parked outside the Electronics Niketan in CGO Complex, where the husband works. It began when a DIG of the CISF received a call Wednesday evening that a “suspicious vehicle” was parked outside the Electronics Niketan in CGO Complex, where the husband works.

A senior commandant of the CISF posted as a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)’s Bureau of Security was arrested Thursday for allegedly planting 550 grams of charas inside a car owned by the husband of an IAS officer posted in Rajasthan.

Delhi Police said that CISF senior commandant Ranjan Pratap Singh (45) met the IAS officer while both prepared for the civil services examination around 20 years ago, and in 2000, both attended a four-month foundation course at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Uttarakhand.

“Singh told police that he was in a one-sided love affair with the IAS officer and was not happy since she got married to another man. He was in constant touch with her but recently, she reprimanded him for making repeated calls to her. He decided to take revenge and bought charas from his childhood friend around six months ago,” said a police officer.

Also read | ‘CISF commandant called IAS officer after husband’s detention’

Sources said Singh wanted to exact “revenge” on her husband, who is a consultant with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and planned to have him arrested on charges of possessing narcotics. “He then shared his plan with a friend who offered to help,” said a police officer.

Singh, along with a lawyer-friend, Neeraj Chauhan (40) bought the charas from Aligarh and planted it in the IAS officer’s husband’s car when it was parked outside his house in Pragati Vihar hostel on October 4. The duo then allegedly borrowed the mobile phone of a fruit vendor Wednesday to report a “suspicious car” to the CISF.

But the plan went awry when the IAS officer’s husband was questioned and claimed the drugs were planted. On searching the car, police found three packets of narcotics at different locations, which also raised eyebrows as did the phone call tip-off directly to a CISF officer instead of the control room.

DCP (south) Atul Thakur said, “Singh and Chauhan were arrested after we first recovered a car that belongs to the husband of a bureaucrat. We later registered an FIR under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and during investigation, found that they had planted 550 grams of charas after procuring it from Aligarh. We have strong technical evidence against them and further investigations are on.”

It began when a DIG of the CISF received a call Wednesday evening that a “suspicious vehicle” was parked outside the Electronics Niketan in CGO Complex, where the husband works. “CISF, responsible for security at CGO complex, rushed to the spot and looked for the owner of the car and then informed police. Meanwhile, the owner of the car was traced. During the search, police found three packets, which they suspected was contraband,” said a senior police officer. “The owner was taken to Lodhi Colony police station for questioning, where he claimed the drugs were planted in his car.”

According to the officer, police were sceptical that a DIG rank officer received a phone call about a suspicious car since such calls are usually made to the control room of either the CISF or Delhi Police. “The husband of the IAS officer was standing confidently when police searched his car and he was cooperating with police even after they recovered 550 grams of charas. The contraband was recovered from three different places – under the foot mat, inside the dashboard and from the boot of the car. No one hides contraband in three different places,” an officer said.

Police then asked the DIG for the number from which he received the tip-off. “The number belonged to one Ram Singh, a hawker near a petrol pump at Aurobindo Marg. On questioning, he said that two men asked for his phone to make an urgent call. The hawker also provided details of their car and police, with the help of CCTV footage, found that the duo used an SX4 with a broken side mirror and curtains blocking windows. An MEA sticker was also pasted on the vehicle,” said an officer.

Singh, who is married, is Director of the MEA’s Bureau of Security – the department responsible for all security at MEA premises. According to police, a key-maker from Lajpat Nagar accompanied the duo to the husband’s car and unlocked the door for them.

Police later checked CCTV footage at the Electronics Niketan area and from one camera, found a similar SX4 with a broken side mirror. The fruit hawker also identified the duo, police said, adding that with the help of the transport department, police got details of the car’s owner — it was registered in Singh’s name.

“Police found the car parked 100 meters away from the Lodhi Colony police station on Wednesday evening. Both the accused were milling around nearby and arrested,” said an officer.

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