E-Paper
Aide of Ludhiana cop facing charges of drug peddling lands in STF net
STF was chasing him for the last one year; used to nab suspects at the behest of errant station house officer Amandeep Singh Gill
A man said to be a close aide of sub-inspector Amandeep Singh Gill, who is facing charges of drug peddling, has been arrested by the Ludhiana special task force (STF). The accused has been identified as Gurbakhsh Singh alias Gaurav Sharma, 35, of Kila Raipur. The STF was chasing him for the last one year.
STF in-charge Harbans Singh said they arrested the accused from Kohara Chowk in Machhiwara on Tuesday. The accused was produced in a court on Wednesday, from where he was remanded to two-day STF custody for questioning.
Gaurav, along with Balbir Singh, dismissed head constable and private driver of SI Amandeep Singh Gill, who was the Division Number 2 SHO, used to nab suspects at the behest of Gill.
His name emerged in the case after the STF arrested three persons — Satvir Singh of Jassowal, Gaganpreet Singh alias Gagna and Harpreet Singh alias Peeta of Patti Jalal on February 24, 2020. They were nabbed and set free by the errant SHO.
Inspector Harbans Singh said the trio had confessed that they were on February 11, 2020 caught with 20gm heroin. They were taken to Division Number 2 police station, where they were kept in illegal custody for three days. The accused also added that SHO Amandeep Singh Gill had set them free after accepting bribe from their kin without registering an FIR.
The SHO had kept their Maruti Suzuki Swift car, mobile phones and 20gm heroin recovered from them with him.
Harbans said the remaining accused were arrested in the case, while Gaurav was on the run.
The STF had arrested SI Amandeep Singh Gill and his aide Ajay Kumar on February 18, 2020 and recovered 10gm heroin from their possession.
A case under sections 21, 59 (2), 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused at STF police station in Mohali.
Later, the STF had recovered 50gm opium from the house of SHO and ₹40,000 from the residence of Ajay Kumar following the information provided by the accused.
Meanwhile, in another case, the STF arrested one Lalit Kumar alias Tipu, 29, of Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar of Tarn Taran following a tip-off.
The accused runs a tour and travel business. He is already facing trial in 10 cases of drug peddling. The court remanded the accused in two-day STF custody.
The STF in-charge said that accomplices of the accused — Kamaljit Singh, 32, of Kabir Nagar in Daba and Bhupinder Singh Bhinda, 42, of Amar Nagar — were caught with 2.17kg heroin on February 27, while Tipu was at large till now.
