Varanasi: Jaunpur police arrested an advocated on charges of duping a client of Rs 41 lakh after gaining his trust, here on Sunday.DIG Varanasi Range Vaibhav Krishan said that after receiving a complaint from Jaipal Sharma, 25, of Bikaner, Rajasthan and collection of evidence, Baksha police in Jaunpur arrested advocate Abhinav Singh alias Chandan, 29, from the bus stand near Shri Narayan Singh Inter College in Sarai Harkhu area under sections 309(6) (robbery) and 317(2) (retaining any stolen property) of BNS, and produced him before the court. Police also recovered the car (UP70HL5218) used in the crime and Rs 35 lakh cash from Singh.According to Krishna, Jaipal Sharma came to Varanasi from Bikaner to obtain bail for his brother lodged in jail and contacted Abhinav Singh, who allegedly gained his trust by claiming to practise at the Allahabad High Court. On Sep 5, after bail formalities at the Varanasi sessions court, Sharma told Singh he had to visit Jaunpur to collect money and meet acquaintances.During police investigation, it came to light that Sharma collected Rs 22 lakh and Rs 19 lakh from two jewellery businessmen near Hanuman Ghat and Sadbhavana Bridge in Jaunpur and carried Rs 41 lakh in a bag. Singh and his associate Updesh Pathak drove towards Varanasi, but changed route and took him to a deserted place where they snatched his phone and bag containing cash and fled after throwing him out of the car.Sharma submitted a complaint to DIG on Sep 18. Krishna said Jaunpur SSP Kunwar Anupam Singh was directed for swift action after which Jaunpur police collected evidence and lodged an FIR at Baksha police station on Sep 20 under relevant BNS sections. A team led by ASP Goldy Gupta arrested Singh, who confessed to his crime and disclosed that Rs 6 lakh had been spent by him. Police teams were carrying out raids for Pathak, who is absconding. A Rs 50,000 reward was announced for the team by DIG.
