ASI held trying to sneak drugs into Kapurthala jail

THE OFFICER HAS BEEN PLACED UNDER SUSPENSION, SAYS KAPURTHALA SSP

KAPURTHALA: An assistant sub-inspector was caught trying to sneak drugs into Kapurthala Modern Jail on Tuesday.

The jail staff recovered 50gm charas from ASI Jatinder Singh who is posted with Jalandhar rural police. He had been assigned the duty to take prisoners from jail to court for hearings for the past one year.

“On a tip-off, all employees coming to join the duty were frisked and Jatinder’s unwillingness to undergo checking made the security staff suspicious. The jail staff found charas hidden in his jacket’s pocket,” said assistant jail superintendent Sardara Singh, on whose recommendation a case under Section 20/61/85 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against the ASI at the Kotwali police station.

Notably, the jail authorities had recently upgraded the security to prevent smuggling of drugs. “A departmental inquiry has been initiated to probe the matter and check involvement of any other official,” jail superintendent of police Baljit Singh Ghuman said.

Kapurthala senior superintendent of police Navjot Singh Mahal said the accused cop has been placed under suspension with immediate effect. “We will be also writing to senior authorities to terminate his services for the blatant violation,” he added. .

In 13 cases of recovery of drugs in jails last year, the involvement of jail officials was found in at least five. Similarly, in 2018, of the 10 cases of drug recovery from Kapurthala jail, the involvement of jail staff was found in three.