Month after arrest, army deserter flees from police custody
HOSHIARPUR : An army deserter, Harpreet Singh, who had stolen two INSAS rifles from the army training centre at Panchmarhi in Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh on December 5, escaped from Hoshiarpur civil hospital in the wee hours of Tuesday.
He reportedly pushed aside the police guard while returning from the toilet and fled.
Four police personnel have been placed under suspension for negligence.
An FIR has been registered against four assistant sub-inspectors (ASI), a head constable, Harpreet and his father Harbans Singh.
As per the statement of one of the accused ASI, Harpreet’s father used to visit him in the hospital and he stealthily gave a mobile phone to him.
Harpreet, who was arrested from Tanda on December 9, along with accomplice Jagtar Singh, alias Jagga, the son of Khalistan Zindabad Force militant Harbhajan Singh, was shifted to the civil hospital’s prisoners’ ward on December 31 with a fractured forearm.
Around 4am on Tuesday, his handcuffs were removed as he asked to use the toilet but when he was returning to the ward, he pushed back the guard and ran away.
On learning about the incident, senior police officials rushed to the hospital. Search teams were despatched to the bus stand and railway station but the escapee could not be found. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gaurav Garg said the police of the entire region were on alert. He hinted at taking strict action against the four suspended policemen.
“This is a very serious case. They deserve a much severe action than just suspension,” he said.
Sources said that two of the four police personnel deployed in the prisoners’ ward were absent from duty.
Posing as army personnel, Harpreet and Jagga, had stolen two INSAS assault rifles, three magazines and 20 cartridges from the sentries at the training centre. The stolen rifles were recovered from a sugarcane field of Kandhali Narangpur village of Tanda block. Jagga is also lodged in Hoshiarpur central jail.
KHALISTAN LINK
Punjab Police were alerted by the army intelligence and Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) that Harpreet, who was absent from duty since October 15, had stolen two 5.56-mm rifles, three magazines and 20 cartridges from the sentries at the training centre at Panchmarhi in Hoshangabad district.
A search was conducted for two days before Harpreet was arrested from Chotala village and Jagga from Kandhali Narangpur village.
Jagga’s father is also behind bars in connection with a blast in the border district of Tarn Taran in September.
It was later reported that China-made drones were being used to drop weapons in the border villages of the district from Pakistan.
In September, police busted the KZF terror module, which was conspiring to unleash terror strikes in the state, by arresting four people and seizing five AK-47 rifles, pistols, satellite phones and hand-grenades.
The four included Harbhajan Singh, who was arrested from Chohla Sahib village in Tarn Taran district.
TRAINED BANDSMAN
Harpreet was commissioned in the Sikh regiment at Ramgarh in Jharkhand in December 2015. He was trained as bandsman at Pachmarhi and deputed as B-flat clariant (musician) in June 2017.
Posing as army personnel, Harpreet and his accomplice arrived at a check post early on December 5 and asked the sentries on duty to call someone from inside the cantonment. After engaging the sentries in chatter, the duo suddenly seized the two INSAS assault rifles and 20 cartridges from the checkpost and fled. ESCAPE Harpreet Singh, who had stolen 2 INSAS rifles from army training centre in MP, was admitted to Hoshiarpur hospital