Mysuru: With twists and turns, the case of looting Rs. 2.27 crore from a Kerala-bound bus allegedly by Policemen at Yelwal reported in 2014, as former Prime Minister of United Kingdom Sir Winston Churchill said, seems to be a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

The Third Additional District and Sessions Court that had acquitted all the 11 accused in the case on Dec. 26, has now issued orders to book the complainants for filing a false case where the claim of Rs. 2.27 crore loot was made. The Court has also issued a notice to the Police as to how the gold seized in the case was handed over to the complainant without the knowledge of the Court.

The Court has ordered that a case against the complainant Sylalubiddin, a gold merchant from Kozhikode in Kerala be filed for giving a false complaint. According to complainants’ advocates Mahadev Deshak and Rohit, the Court has directed the Lower Court to book the complainant Sylalubiddin and two other complainants for wasting the Court’s time by filing a false complaint and giving false evidence.

Deshak told Star of Mysore this morning that the Court has directed a case to be booked under Section 340 of CrPC (false witness and relating to documents given in evidence).

In their complaint, Sylalubiddin and two others had said that apart from Rs. 2.27 crore, there were two gold bars that were kept under the seat of the bus driver. The gold bars were recovered from the bus, according to the complainants.

The complainants had stated that they had bought three gold bars from Dubai and had managed to sell only one gold bar in Bengaluru and had given the other two gold bars to the bus driver to take them to Kerala.

Deshak said that while acquitting all the 11 accused, the Court had observed that the complainants had not submitted any evidence to substantiate their claims of gold purchase in Dubai and the sale in Bengaluru.

Deshak said that at the time of investigation, the Investigating Officer (the then Circle Inspector of Mysore South) Thippannanavar had given back the two gold bars that were recovered from the bus to the complainants.

“The Court has also issued notice to the Police seeking explanation on how the gold bars were returned to the complainants when the case was still being investigated,” he said.

On Jan. 3, 2014, the Mysuru Police got information that crores of rupees was being transported from Bengaluru to Kerala in a bus named ‘Kalpaka’ (KA-01-AA-2793).

The Police immediately formed a team under the guidance of the then Southern Range IGP K. Ramachandra Rao and Mysuru Rural Dy.SP Srihari Baragur.

The then Mysuru South Rural Inspector Jagadeesh (presently, District Crime Records Bureau Inspector Madikeri), Head Constable Ravi, and Constables Satish, Ashok, Latif and Manohar were part of the team and the team was waiting for the  bus near Yelwal.

The bus reached Yelwal at 2 am on Jan. 4, 2014. On searching, the Police recovered the Rs. 20 lakh cash that was kept in the tool box. An FIR was registered and the bus driver, Akhtar Hussain and conductor Munir were taken into custody.

The case received a major twist when Sylalubiddin alleged that the Police personnel had pocketed over Rs. 2.27 crore they had seized from the bus. The case was later handed  over to the CID.