Seoni Hawala Robbery Case: DSP and Constable Among Four Arrested, Court Sends Them on Police Remand

Seoni, MP: In a major development in the widely-publicized ₹2.96 crore Seoni Hawala robbery case, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Tuesday arrested four individuals, including senior police officers and hawala operators. The court has sent all four to two days’ police remand.

Key Arrests

The arrested include DSP Pankaj Mishra of the Balaghat Hawk Force, Head Constable Pramod Soni of the Jabalpur Crime Branch, and two hawala operators. Among them is also a relative of CSP Pooja Pandey and an informant connected to the case. The accused were produced before the Seoni court, which approved their remand until 20 November. DSP Pankaj Mishra is considered a crucial link in the ongoing investigation.

Case Background

The case traces back to the night of 8–9 October, when Crime Branch constable Pradeep Soni received information from an informant about a hawala transfer of ₹2.96 crore through Seoni, Nagpur, and Jalna. He relayed the information to DSP Pankaj Mishra, who subsequently informed CSP Pooja Pandey.

The Robbery Plan

Following this intelligence, a plan was allegedly hatched to loot ₹3 crore in Seoni. CSP Pooja Pandey, along with 11 others, is accused of stopping a hawala operator’s vehicle near Seeladehi Bypass on NH-44 and looting ₹1.47 crore. So far, ₹1.45 crore has been recovered from the police, and ₹1.25 crore seized from the hawala operators. The other accused from the initial arrests remain in jail.

Investigation Underway

Jabalpur IG Pramod Verma stated that the SIT investigation revealed the misuse of internal information to execute the robbery. Questioning of all four newly arrested individuals is underway, and further revelations are expected as the probe progresses.