By P K Gupta
Amit Kumar, 2018 batch IPS from Rajasthan cadre is among 140 cops who have been awarded with “Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation” for the year 2023. Besides Kumar, eight more cops from Rajasthan have made it to this prestigious award which was constituted in 2018. The objective of this award is to high professional standards of investigation of crime and recognize such Excellence in Investigation. It is announced on August 12 every year.
Among the personnel receiving these awards, 15 are from CBI, 12 from NIA, 10 from Uttar Pradesh, 9 each from Kerala and Rajasthan, 8 from Tamil Nadu, 7 from Madhya Pradesh and 6 from Gujarat and the remaining from the other states/UTs/organizations. These also include 22 women police officers, two from Rajasthan.
Amit Kumar, who is now posted as Superintendent of Police Pratapgarh, has been awarded for an outstanding investigation in the infamous Monalisa murder case of Bikaner, which led to the arrest of murdered after almost two years. Kumar was then posted as Additional Superintendent of Police in Bikaner.
“It is a great feeling to receive this award. I will always try my best to fulfill my duty as a police officer,” Kumar told a TheBuckstopper.com
The Case:
The plot is straight from a Hollywood flick. The case is related to Monalisa, a 40 year old woman from Bikaner who was live in relationship with one Bhawani Singh Jhadeli. Both used to live in Omaxe city in Jaipur in a rented apartment. Monalisa belonged to a well off family and used to live independently away from her parents – Runa Chowdhary and Swapna Chowdhary.
Two years ago, Jhadeli killed Monalisa to usurp her properties worth crores and told everyone that she died due to Corona. After killing Monalisa on February 5, 2021, Jhadeli removed all the evidences with the help of his friend Jitendra Sharma and his wife Sonika Sharma.
How parents got suspicious about Jhadeli
Bhawani Singh Jhadeli convinced Monalisa's parents about her death due to Corona. Jhadeli said that he didn't called upon Monalisa's parents for the last rites as government had banned participation of people for the cremation of Corona victim. But after some time parents of Monalisa got suspicious about Jhadeli who told lie about the death of their dog.
Monalisa had four dogs of different breeds. Of them Ziggy, a Saint Bernard breed was the favourite of Monalisa. After death of Monalisa, her mother Runa Chowdhary used to take care of these canines. Once Runa Chowdhary fell ill and asked Jhadeli to handover these dogs to someone who could take care of them. Jhadeli took the dogs along but kept Ziggy with him. Jhadeli could not take care of Ziggy well and the dog died while being under treatment to a veterinarian know to Chowdhary family.
When Runa Chowdhary recovered she demanded for return of the dogs. Jhadeli returned three dogs but for Ziggy. He told them that he had given Ziggy to a Colonel who is out of town. Runa Chowdhary in a chance meeting with the veterinarian got to know about Ziggy and the falsehood of Jhadeli which forced her to raise suspicion over Jhadeli's death theory of Monalisa. He confronted Jhadeli about the death Monalsia. Jhadeli faltered and could not give convincing answer which led Chowdhary coupled to file an FIR against Jhadeli.
Amit Kumar uncovered the truth
Amit Kumar, additional superintendent of police was made incharge of the case. He investigated Jhadeli thoroughly and found that his statements were not matching. He further dig deep into the case and cracked it. Jhadeli confessed to the murder of Monalisa.
The BuckStopper, run by a group of seasoned journalists, holds the powerful accountable. The buck stops with them, as they cannot shrug off their official responsibilities.
