Key witness’ wife held with banned tablets

MOHALI: Mohali police on Sunday arrested the wife of Balwinder Singh, a key witness in the assassination case of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, with 960 banned tablets.

The accused was identified as Gaganpreet Sidhu, 35.

The police had initially registered a case against an unidentified accused, but Gaganpreet was later nominated in the FIR registered under the NDPS Act by Nayagaon police.

According to officials privy to the matter, an input was received about involvement of Balwinder’s son in drug trade, following which the police had raided his house.

During the search, the police team found the tablets, but rather than registering a case against Balwinder’s son, Gaganpreet was arrested as the contraband belonged to her, they added. Gaganpreet, the officials said, is Balwinder’s third wife, who shared a strained relationship with his son from the first marriage.

“She wanted to implicate her stepson in an NDPS case and planted the tablets in his room before giving their domestic help’s brother ₹20,000 to provide a tip-off to the police,” they said.

The police suspected foul play on finding the CCTV cameras installed at Balwinder’s house defunct.

“Balwinder is a key witness in the sensational case and the possibility of his cameras being non-functional was bleak. When we interrogated our informer strictly, he disclosed the conspiracy, following which we arrested the accused,” one of the officials quoted above said.

The police are likely to make more arrests in the case and might add criminal conspiracy charges to the FIR.

“We are still investigating the case and add relevant sections if needed,” an officer said.

The FIR has been registered under sections 21, 61, and 85 of the NDPS Act.

Who is Balwinder Singh

Beant Singh was killed on August 31, 1995, outside the civil secretariat in Chandigarh. Balwinder Singh, who is currently serving in the Punjab Police, was a painter then.

According to the police, he had painted the ambassador car which was used by the killers of the slain CM.

Balwinder later turned a key witness for the investigating agencies and was also given a job in the Punjab Police.