Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh police on Thursday
urged the CBI to take up with Interpol the matter of 'stolen'
George Cross medal awarded posthumously to a Himachal born
soldier, which has found its way to an auction home in London,
where it is scheduled to go under hammer on December 2.
"We have urged CBI to take up with interpol or other
appropriate authority for recovery of the medal stolen seven
years ago, which according to reports will be auctioned in
London on December 2," Additional Director General of Police
(CID) ID Bhandari said.
Copy of the old FIR and other details of the case has
been sent to the CBI for necessary action, he added.
The George Cross medal, the highest decoration of the
United Kingdom and civilian equivalent to the Victoria Cross,
was awarded posthumously to a Himachal born soldier Naik Kirpa
Ram, a resident of Papral in Bilaspur district in 1946.
His widow Brahma Devi, who lives in Papral, had lodged an
FIR with Bharari police station of Bilaspur on February 3,
2002 about the medal being stolen from her residence,
Superintendent of Police Bilaspur Kuldeep Sharma said.
"But, after investigation nothing could be traced and
the case was later closed as untraced," he said.
A retired IAS officer Shakti Singh Chandel, who has
authored 12 volumes on lives of George Cross winners
worldwide, on November 23 last got an email from Marion
Hebblethwaite, that the medal was listed for sale at Dix
Noonan Webb, London on December 2 with an estimated price of
20,000 British pounds (About Rs 50 lakh).
PTI
First Published: Thursday, November 26, 2009, 17:44