Removing peddler’s name from FIR lands Amritsar ASI in soup

BOOKED The drug peddler had given ₹30,000 to two middlemen who gave ₹19,000 to ASI Nirmal Singh of Tangra police post

AMRITSAR: An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of the Punjab Police has been booked for allegedly taking bribe of ₹19,000 and removing a drug peddler’s name from a first information report (FIR), here on Thursday.

The said case was lodged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at the Tarsikka police station in April this year. The accused ASI has been identified as Nirmal Singh, who was posted as the in-charge of Tangra police post.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP, Amritsar rural) Parampal Singh said, “Station house officer (SHO) Avtar Singh, of Khalchian police station, had arrested Gurjeet Singh aka Jama of Chajjalwadi village with 500 intoxicated tablets and 6gm heroin.”

During Jama’s interrogation, it came to light that around three months back, the Tarsikka police had arrested Baljit Singh of Chajjalwadi village with drugs. Baljit had taken Jama’s name during probe.

Jama confessed that after Baljit’s interrogation, assistant sub-inspector Narinder Singh had conducted a raid to arrest him, but he had escaped arrest.

Jama told the police that he had then contacted Sandeep Singh of Malowal village and Harpreet Singh of Dharar village — both said to be members of Valmiki Ekta Sangharash Dal

— to get his name removed from the FIR.

He had given ₹30,000 to Sandeep and Harpreet for this.

The duo had given ₹19,000 to the assistant sub-inspector and kept the rest amount with them.

The assistant sub-inspector had removed his name from the FIR after taking the money.

The senior superintendent of police said that after Jama’s confession, the preliminary investigation revealed that ASI Narinder Pal had misused