IPS officer cleared in release of Nabha jailbreak accused

LUCKNOW: A senior IPS officer has been given clean chit by a highlevel inquiry committee, formed following reports of his alleged role in the arrest and subsequent release of an accused in the Nabha jailbreak case.

The Uttar Pradesh government had ordered a high-level inquiry on September 20 following media reports that Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Ghyanshyampura was detained and subsequently released at the behest of this IPS officer.

“The inquiry, headed by an ADG-rank officer, has found that false and misleading allegations were levelled against the IPS officer through the media,” a state home department spokesperson said on Friday.

He added that the motive of these allegations appears to hinder the probe by the special task force (STF) against the organised gangs of criminals, and action will be taken against those found responsible for it.

In a sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men stormed Nabha jail in Patiala district in police uniforms and managed to free six prisoners— Harminder Singh Mintoo and Kashmir Singh, both terrorists, and gangsters Dhothian, Vicky Gounder, Gurpreet Sekhon and Neeta Deol—on November 27 last year.

Gurpreet Singh was reportedly hiding at different places in Uttar Pradesh, including at Lucknow and Shahjahanpur.

The anti-terrorism squad (ATS) had arrested three persons, Sandeep Tiwari alias Pintu, Amandeep Singh and Harjinder Singh, on September 15 from Lucknow.

The trio had reportedly struck a deal with the IPS officer in question for ₹45 lakh to free Gurpreet, official sources said.

As the controversy erupted, the STF issued a clarification stating that the said media reports were “misleading”.

“The statements of people and officials concerned were recorded during the course of investigation and a team also visited Punjab to meet and record statements of officials and accused persons,” the spokesperson said.