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. WASHINGTON: A Sikh student in the US state of Pennsylvania was allegedly removed from a high school-level soccer (football) game by a referee for wearing a turban, according to media reports.
Officials from the Marple Newtown School District said the incident occurred on Tuesday when the high school student was playing against the Conestoga High team, according to WPVI-TV.
Witnesses said the referee did not allow the Sikh student onto the field because he was wearing turban in compliance with his faith.
The referee reportedly cited National Federation of High School Soccer rules that state: “Illegal equipment shall not be worn by any player. Types of equipment which are illegal include, but are not limited to helmets, hats, caps or visors.”
According to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), districts can apply for exemptions from such rules by requesting that certain players be allowed to wear religious items, said WPVI-TV, an affiliate of the ABC news.
Marple Newtown School District officials were informed about the incident and have initiated a probe to find out if the student’s religious rights were violated by the referee’s decision, it said.
In a statement, school district attorney Mark Sereni wrote, “Our district was surprised to learn about the incident.”
It added, “The PIAA apparently does not have a rule that reasonably accommodates the wearing of religious headwear by our student athletes who play soccer.”
“Our district is investigating this ruling and has advocated and will continue to advocate for the rights of our students to appropriately wear religious headgear,” Sereni said.