2 cops booked for helping gangster Duneke obtain passport on forged documents
The AGTF probe found that the cops provided police clearance certificate to gangster Duneke on forged documents in 2017 to obtain passport even as seven criminal cases, including heinous crimes were registered against him
Moga Amid investigation by the anti-Gangster task force into the gangsters operating from abroad, the district police on Saturday booked two cops for allegedly helping gangster Sukhdul Singh alias Sukha Duneke to obtain a passport by tampering police verification process using forged documents.
The case was registered against assistant sub-inspector Prabhdyal Singh and head constable Gurwinder Singh, who were found guilty of helping Duneke. The AGTF probe found that the cops provided police clearance certificate to Duneke on forged documents in 2017 even as seven criminal cases, including heinous crimes were registered against him.
“There was failure on the part of police officers. The services of Prabhdyal and Gurwinder were terminated by the Moga SSP after a departmental inquiry in April 2021. They were found guilty of helping Duneke to obtain a passport and flee to Canada. But the cops filed an appeal against the termination orders, which was marked to a DIG-rank officer. The DIG reinstated them in the service by stopping a few increments. Now, AGTF has issued directions to register a case,” said an officer on the condition of anonymity.
The passport was issued to Duneke on the basis of a police report and he managed to obtain a Canadian visa in the same year and fled to Canada. Since then, Duneke in alliance with the Davinder Bambiha gang has been orchestrating crimes in Punjab and nearby states through his associates. Duneke is among the most-wanted list of criminals of Punjab police.
On June 11, additional director general of police (ADGP) AGTF, Parmod Ban issued directions to Moga senior superintendent of police Gulneet Singh Khurana to register a case against the cops, who helped Duneke.
On the sidelines of the murder of Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, AGTF is also going through the record of all the gangsters operating from abroad. Two persons involved in Moose Wala’s murder conspiracy had also fled country using fake passports, which were issued from other states.
Recent findings of the AGTF of the state police suggest that Duneke has been aiding, funding and strengthening the Devinder Bambiha gang in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. He is actively making calls for extortions and indulges in ‘supari’ killings. More than 20 criminal cases of murder and other heinous crimes have been registered against him in Punjab and nearby states.
An FIR under Sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security) and 468 (forgery with purpose of cheating) of the IPC and Sections 10(3)(B) and 10(3)(E) of the Indian Passport Act has been registered against both the cops and gangster Duneke as well at Moga sadar police station.
SSP Khurana said that ASI Prabhdyal was posted as a passport inquiry officer at Saanjah Kendra in Moga Sadar police station when Duneke applied for a passport in 2017.
“Prabhdyal did not conduct proper inquiry and completed verification process without recording statement of any reliable person of the area. Gurwinder posted at Moga sadar police station as head constable had reported five cases against Duneke, while there were seven cases against him. He had submitted a tempered report as facts relating to the case were misinterpreted,” he added.
Duneke is among the key conspirators of sensational murder of kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal during a kabaddi match at Mallian village in Jalandhar in March.
