Arjun Prasad Singh at Kotwali police station on Tuesday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Arjun Prasad Singh returned home on Wednesday without the money and the scheduled operation waiting in hope for the cops to recover the money.

A day after Rs 12 lakh was lifted from his vehicle in the city, the mukhiya (village head) had no other option but to go back to Nawada. He, however, hopes the police will recover the money to help him get his bypass surgery done.

“The money was for my surgery, which was scheduled for today (Wednesday). I don’t know what happened. The police have not informed me anything about a breakthrough yet. Arranging such a huge amount is not easy for me or anyone else. My health is bad and doctors had advised me to go for a surgery immediately. Now, I have no choice but to go without the operation,” Singh said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday morning, Singh, the mukhiya of Shahpur panchayat of Nawada, around 120km southeast of the state capital, had come to the city with his driver and nephew to board the Rajdhani Express to New Delhi. He had a scheduled bypass surgery at Medanta Medicity in Gurgaon. Singh decided to spend some time at the Mahavir Mandir and his driver parked the vehicle along the busy Frazer Road waiting for him. Later, the driver of the vehicle found the briefcase containing the amount and documents related to the surgery missing.

According to the FIR , the briefcase containing the money and other documents was kept in the back seat of the SUV and someone had opened the rear door and lifted it.

“I will be lucky if the money is recovered. I am hopeful even though the chances are bleak. I believe the police will do their job and help me so that I can get the surgery done soon,” Singh added.

“The police are investigating the case. The closed-circuit television camera footages have been scanned but the police couldn’t find anything. Probes are being carried out and the police are hopeful of a breakthrough,” a police officer at the Kotwali police station said.