GRAFT: TARN TARAN POLICE SUSPEND SHO, ASI, DISMISS 3

TARN TARAN : A day after the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) caught head constable Balwinder Singh red-handed while accepting a bribe of ₹50,000 in a drug peddling case, the Tarn Taran police on Saturday suspended Patti (sadar) station house officer Preetinder Singh and assistant sub-inspector of Ghariala police post Lakhwinder Singh for their alleged involvement in the case.

Police have also dismissed Balwinder, another head constable Rasal Singh and constable Gurwinder Singh, who was posted at the Patti (sadar) police station.

In his complaint to the VB, Palwinder Singh of Faridkot said the head constable was demanding ₹1 lakh to help him in a drug peddling case. The deal was struck at ₹50,000. A trap was laid and the head constable was arrested in presence of two official witnesses.

A senior police official, who does not want to be named, said soon after Balwinder’s arrest, a team under the supervision of Patti deputy superintendent of police Sohan Singh was constituted to probe the case. Balwinder was the gunman of SHO Preetinder Singh.

“The probe team found that on July 14, the Border Security Force nabbed Major Singh of Ferozepur with 550gm of heroin while his accomplice Gurwinder Singh managed to flee. A case was registered under the NDPS Act at the sadar police station against the two,” said the police official.

“A few days ago, ASI Lakhwinder Singh arrested Gurwinder brother Palwinder on the SHO’S instructions and kept him in illegal detention for two days. The ASI demanded ₹1 lakh bribe for not naming him in the case,” the official said, adding that the probe also found the involvement of some more cops of the Patti police station in the case.