Peddlers used constable’s pistol to shoot him dead
: An anti-drug special task force (STF) constable who was sent as a decoy customer to strike a deal was shot dead by peddlers with his service pistol near Jandiala Guru, about 20km from district headquarters, on Tuesday.
Jandiala SHO Amolak Singh said preliminary investigation reveals that constable Gurdeep Singh’s pistol fell on the ground during a scuffle between him and drug peddlers. “One of the accused, Parwinder Singh, picked up the pistol and fired a shot at Gurdeep that hit his face,” he said. The injured cop was rushed to a private hospital but he succumbed to his injuries.
Police said an STF team, led by deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ajay Singh, received a tipoff on presence of smugglers in Jandiala Guru town. The team reached Janiana village and Gurdeep was sent as a decoy to a group of drug smugglers who were in a Maruti Baleno car. As Gurdeep was striking a deal, one of the smugglers opened fire at him. The others STF members, who were waiting nearby, rushed to the spot but the accused managed to flee, STF inspector general of police (border range) RK Jaiswal said on Tuesday.
ACCUSED SENT TO 4-DAY POLICE REMAND
Parwinder and Harpreet Singh were arrested hours after Gurdeep, 28, was shot dead. A local court sent the duo to four-day police remand.
A case under Sections 302 (murder), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25, 27, 54 and 59 of Arms Act and 21, 29, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused.
Police also recovered 500 gm heroin from their possession.
Meanwhile, the mortal remains of constable Gurdeep Singh were consigned to flames at Model Town cremation ground on Wednesday.
Head of special task force ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, along with inspector general of police RK Jaiswal, paid tributes to the slain cop. MLA Pargat Singh and deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma laid the wreath on the behalf of the state government.