Rathore pays Rs 9.05 lakh to buy number plate for his 'No 1 wife'

Chandigarh: Former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra, has paid the highest amount of Rs 9,05,001 for a fancy number for the new luxury car bought by him for his lawyer wife. Rathore has paid the highest amount of Rs 9,05,001 for the fancy number ‘CH 01 AM 0001’ for his new Mercedes which he gifted to his wife, Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) officials said here today. [caption id=“attachment_288007” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Former Director General of Police of Haryana, SPS Rathore (L), convicted in the Ruchika molestation case. AFP”]  [/caption] At the RLA auction held here yesterday for the new series CH 01 AM, the highest bidder turned out to be none other than Rathore. Rathore took the bidding to a new level by adding one rupee to each of his bids in order to outdo others. “My wife is number one and so is the Re 1 that I suffixed to the bids,” Rathore said. There were 18 applications for the number 0001 in the new series, officials said adding that in the auction held in January CH 01 AL 0001 had fetched Rs 5.8 lakh. Rathore said that he had paid the advance amount for 15 numbers. Determined to take the fancy number for the woman who stood by him in tough times, Rathore increased the bid amount by Re 1 for four consecutive times before clinching the number, officials said. The former Haryana top cop, who was convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, had served in jail from May to November 2010. He was released on bail by the Supreme Court on 11 November, 2010. However, he was asked not to leave India and the case is still pending in the Apex court. PTI