PATNA, Jan. 6 -- A first information report (FIR) has been lodged against four police personnel, including a suspended station house officer (SHO) and sub-inspector of Lalganj police station (Vaishali) who siphoned off gold/silver ornaments recovered from the house of a burglary suspect during the raid on December 30 last year. The suspended SHO Santosh Kumar and SI Sumanji Jha were named as an accused in an FIR of the allegation of hiding seized gold/silver jewellery besides lakhs of rupees from the house of a burglar Rampreet Sahni at Bilanpur village under Lalganj police station area. On Monday, Tirhut range DIG Chandan Kumar Kushwaha and CID SP Pramod Kumar Yadav investigated the matter after reaching the spot. The Tirhut DIG, SP CID with FSL team inspected the house of Sahni and found the earth was dug and soil kept under the bed (Chowki). On December 30, the Sadar SDPO-2 Gopal Mandal had claimed the police raided Sahni's house and recovered stolen articles from his house while his wife, Kaushalya Devi, was arrested and forwarded to judicial custody. In the press conference, SDPO Mandal informed that SHO Santosh Kumar had received information that a lot of stolen items were kept in Sahni's house. On the basis of information, a police team led by SHO conducted a raid at Sahni's house but five of the suspects, including Sahni, fled from the spot. During the search of the house police detained Sahni's wife. During interrogation, she admitted that her husband along with associates committed thefts and burglaries in different localities. However, the locals and Sahni's relatives claim that the Lalganj police failed to display seized gold/silver ornaments and cash during the press conference and alleged that the police had hidden a huge amount of cash and jewellery. Gena Lal Sahni, a relative of absconding Rampreet Sahni, alleged that the police took away Rs.50 lakh cash, two kilograms gold and six kilograms silver ornaments which were hidden inside the earth. Police did not show anywhere in the seizure list. "The police show only three TVs, two live cartridges, one empty cartridge and utensils," claimed Gena Lal. After the investigation, the DIG clarified that prima facie the allegations were found true and directed that an FIR be registered against the concerned police officer. If found guilty, the accused officers will face strict departmental action, the DIG added. "At the time of the raid, no video recording was carried out and the recovered gold and cash were not mentioned in the seizure list as required under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The allegations levelled against the police team involved in the raid have been found prima facie correct. The matter is being investigated in depth," the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) said. Earlier, Vaishali Superintendent of Police (SP) Lalit Mohan Sharma, who had been on medical leave, ordered a fair and transparent probe into the allegations after resuming duty. The investigation was handed over to Additional SP (Traffic) Prem Sagar. On the DIG's directive, Lalganj station house officer (SHO) Santosh Kumar and sub-inspector (SI) Suman Jha were suspended. Jha is stated to be a tainted officer. On September 4, 2024, he was caught red-handed by the Vigilance Investigation Bureau (VIB) while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs.11,000 during his posting in Muzaffarpur. The trap case is still pending before a vigilance court in Muzaffarpur. Speaking to HT, the Vaishali SP said the entire raid and search operation at Sahni's residence could not be videographed as mandated by rules. Senior officials at the police headquarters said the incident was not an isolated case. In October 2025, during Diwali, the Chowk police station in the state capital raided a firecracker shop in the Sarai Gali locality and seized cash amounting to Rs. 14 lakh and firecrackers worth Rs. 20 lakh. However, the police allegedly neither handed over the seized items to the owner nor registered a case, instead booking it against unidentified persons. The matter is under investigation. Earlier, on December 31, the Patna rail police arrested the SHO of Gaya Government Railway Police (GRP), Rajesh Kumar Singh, for his alleged involvement in the robbery of four gold biscuits from a passenger-cum-employee of a gold trader on a running train between the Koderma and Gaya rail sections. Four of his close associates, all constables allegedly involved in the incident, have been suspended, while raids are being conducted to arrest the suspended constables and their two civilian aides. Investigations so far suggest that the incident was not isolated and point to a criminal-police nexus operating along the Grand Chord rail line connecting Howrah and Delhi via Gaya, a route commonly used by traders to transport precious metals to avoid heavy taxation, officials said....