ASI helped builder evade arrest for 5 years, finds probe

A UT police official helped a proclaimed offender (PO) evade arrest for eight years, an internal probe of the department revealed. The incident came to light when the PO, identified as Naveen Nayyar, a Dhakoli-based property dealer-cum-builder, was nabbed by the operations cell on September 13. He had been on the run since 2009.

During interrogation, Nayyar revealed that assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Shamsher Singh, currently posted at the Sector 11 police station, had shielded him from arrest in a cheating case registered in 2001. What helped corroborate his claims was the fact that there were over 2,800 calls made from the ASI’s phone to Nayyar’s phone between October 2018 and September 2019.

These calls were made not to arrest or lay a trap but to seek remuneration, in the form of money or expensive gifts, in exchange of the ‘protection’ being given to Nayyar, revealed the operations cell’s report.

In the report, which has now been submitted to the superintendent of police (SP) Vineet Kumar, operations cell’s inspector Jasminder Singh stated, “ASI Shamsher Singh knowingly shielded the PO from lawful arrest and thus indulged in grave misconduct and dereliction of duty even though he is a member of the disciplinary force and was assigned the duty of arresting the POs.”

THE CASE AND HOW IT UNFOLDED

As per the local district courts and police records Nayyar was declared a PO in 2011 in a cheating case registered at the Sector 17 police station in 2009. Two co-accused in the case, Jatinder Soni and Manish Sharma, were arrested and sent to Burail jail in 2009, while Nayyar managed to evade arrest and was declared a PO by the court.

He came in contact with the ASI, who was then a head constable and posted in the PO and summons cell, through a shopkeeper in Sector 19.

Shamsher reportedly assured Nayyar that he will sort his problem but in exchange the latter should pay him ₹1 lakh every month or more whenever he asked for it. Apart from this, Shamsher also took expensive liquor and construction material from Nayyar to build his new house in Aerocity in Mohali.

The primary duty of the PO and summons cell is to investigate the absconder case files and arrest the POs. They also have the responsibility of initiating proceedings under CrPC against the POs.

Officials privy to the matter, on condition of anonymity, said, “Shamsher in exchange of money and luxurious goods may have acted as a guardian to other POs as well. This needs to be probed thoroughly as it raises questions on the overall functioning of the unit.”

Superintendent of police(SP, operations) Vineet Kumar said, “The inquiry is going on and I will get the report hopefully by Monday. Based on the report, we will proceed accordingly towards further action.”