E-Paper
ASI, head constable suspended for selling impounded vehicles in Ludhiana
Eight two-wheelers were sold to a scrap dealer, police say the vehicles were crucial case property
An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and a head constable are in dock for selling at least eight motorcycles and scooters, which were crucial case property, to a scrap dealer for personal gains.
Following a preliminary investigation, ASI Gurdial Singh, who was in-charge of Kochar Market police post, and head constable Jagtar Singh, a munshi, have been suspended.
The matter came to the fore when traffic police personnel spotted a pick-up auto loaded with two-wheelers plying on Ludhiana-Ferozepur road on Monday.
The driver of the auto told the traffic cops that he was a scrap dealer and the said policemen had sold those vehicles to him.
He claimed that he was taking the vehicles to his godown near octroi post.
The traffic cops informed the Sarabha Nagar police about the incident and the auto was taken to CIA staff-1.
It was when senior officials launched a probe that the facts unfolded.
The two-wheelers did not fit in the pick-up auto and their visibility grabbed the attention of traffic police personnel, who stopped the driver to enquire.
The two-wheelers were impounded by Kochar market police in several cases. Some of those were the stolen ones and recovered from vehicle-lifters. When no one claimed the vehicles, the ASI and head constable decided to sell them.
Police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal said the vehicles impounded by police cannot be moved without following a proper procedure. “Kochar market police post in-charge ASI Gurdial Singh and munshi head constable Jagtar Singh were found moving the seized vehicles without any prior information. They have been placed under suspension with immediate effect and a departmental inquiry has been marked against them,” he added.
The investigating officials are now trying to ascertain if there was another motive behind this act and whether more persons were involved in the case, Agrawal said. The police chief said once the charges against the duo are proved, stern action will be taken against them.
