AK-47 bullets, Pakistan flags, old rivalry: Inside plot to frame Jammu jeweller

According to security sources, on September 19, J&K Police received a tip about some incriminating material at Ruby Jewellers. (Source: File/ Representational)

On September 19, when security forces in Jammu & Kashmir found AK-47 ammunition, some Pakistani currency notes and flags, and militants’ posters during raids at a local jewellery shop in Poonch town’s main market, the first instinct of investigators was to treat it as a terror case. Then the probe took an unexpected turn – investigators allegedly unravelled a series of phone calls and messages all seemingly from Pakistan, a business rivalry and, most importantly, a conspiracy to frame a family in a terror investigation.

Since then, the J&K Police has taken into custody three people – Amandeep Singh, Arvind and Mumtaz – for what the police claim is a conspiracy to frame the family of Davinder Singh, owner of Ruby Jewellers, with the police now looking for two others, brothers Gagandeep Singh and Hardeep Singh, who they claim masterminded the plot.

While Amandeep Singh and Arvind are employees at a rival jewellery business, Sajjan Jewellers, Mumtaz is an old history-sheeter in police records. Police claim the plot had the Singh brothers, owners of Sajjan Jewellers, at its centre.

The police’s suspicion that the material had been planted was later confirmed by Poonch SSP Shafqat Hussain, who said it had been placed on the premises by someone else, although he declined to share details of the investigation.

The raids

According to security sources, on September 19, J&K Police received a tip about some incriminating material at Ruby Jewellers. The tip, from the Army, came from a “credible source”, prompting troops and some local policemen to conduct searches at the shop.

The search, sources say, led the team to find five live AK-47 rounds, Pakistani currency worth Rs 105, 30 posters with alleged terror links, and two Pakistani flags just inside a door on the second floor.

“An Army officer approached us seeking deployment of some policemen for this,” the officer said. “We asked him to verify his information again, but he insisted that the source was credible.”

Story continues below this ad

By the time the security forces knocked on the family’s door that day, the family claims to have witnessed a series of events that puzzled them – unexplained phone calls, text messages, and even a previous police raid. The problem, according to the family, had been particularly acute since Devinder Singh’s return from Dehradun after two years.

“My daughter received a WhatsApp message from a Pakistani number asking ‘Kam Kaisa Chal Raha Hai’ (How’s your work going?). A text to my nephew, who had been running the shop in my absence, said: ‘Aap ka samaan us jagah deliver ho jayega’ (Your material will be delivered at that place),” Devinder Singh said. “But we didn’t respond to either and informed the police.”

The probe

What really began to raise suspicion among investigators was the manner in which the “incriminating” materials were found. “It was found lying bare and uncovered on the floor, giving the impression that these were dropped by someone from an open space above the door,” a senior police officer said.

The Army left the investigation to the local police, who sent the seized material to a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). As they awaited results, the police began to dig deeper. The first thread they pulled was the bitter rivalry between Ruby and Sajjan – the two jewellery businesses – and they picked up Amandeep, an employee working at the rival jewellers, for questioning. According to sources, that led the police to Mumtaz, a man from Surankote that the police claim bought the incriminating materials found at Ruby Jewellers

Story continues below this ad

“He had 13 FIRs against him and had previously been detained under the Public Safety Act. He had come out of jail recently,” a police officer told The Indian Express.

Devinder Singh’s family claims that the Singh brothers of the rival shop were relatives and that “attempts to frame him in some terror case had begun around the same time he returned home two-three months ago”.

“The Army had raided my premises earlier too, claiming to have traced a call from a Pakistani number to one of my family members. However, they left after they found nothing incriminating,” he said.

The family alleges that on April 21, Rupinder Kour was assaulted by the Singh brothers after she allegedly objected to liquor bottles being thrown at their house. An FIR has been registered in that case.