New Delhi, March 30 (PTI): Police today claimed the revolver allegedly used by a property agent to kill ACP Rajbir Singh belonged to an additional superintendent of police in Hisar.

The revolver used by Vijay Bhardwaj to kill the Delhi police encounter specialist originally belonged to additional SP Ashok Sohran, Gurgaon commissioner of police Mohinder Lal said.

Sohran said he had lost the weapon during a police operation last year.

Property dealer Bhard- waj, who took the weapon from Singh three days before the murder, might have planned the murder during that period, Sohran added.

Bhardwaj had taken the revolver from Singh for protection because he was going to collect a large amount of money he had lent someone in Sirsa, Lal said.

He said Sohran had claimed in an FIR lodged on July 21, 2007, in Bhiwani that he had lost his service revolver (No. A-1031) while chasing a criminal in Dadri earlier the same day.

Lal said Gurgaon police believed Bhardwaj had murdered Singh after being humiliated by him.

The revolver was manufactured in 1991 and issued to Haryana police in 1993, said Lal. “Someone had erased the gun’s original number (A-1031) from the barrel and the butt and embossed a fake number (E-5286) on it to hoodwink authorities.”

Sohran told a TV channel he was disturbed that the weapon issued to him had been used in a murder.

“Bhardwaj killed Singh because he was apprehensive that the ACP might harm him or his family members as he had failed to return money to him,” Lal said.

Bhardwaj, upset over mounting debt, had tried to commit suicide last August but was stopped by family members who got wind of his intentions.

Singh was killed on March 24 at Bhardwaj’s office where the officer had allegedly gone to collect money from the property dealer. The 48-year-old ACP had over 50 “kills” attributed to him and was said to have cracked the Parliament attack case.