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Dismayed by cops’ failure to arrest sacked AIG Raj Jit: HC
The high court granted interim bail to him in yet another case and recorded its dissatisfaction with the manner the police have proceeded and have not been able to apprehend him since May 2023
The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday expressed its displeasure over the Punjab Police’s failure in arresting Raj Jit Singh Hundal, sacked assistant inspector general of police (AIG), who is accused of colluding with the drug peddlers.
The high court granted interim bail to him in yet another case and recorded its dissatisfaction with the manner the police have proceeded and have not been able to apprehend him since May 2023.
“The petitioner has been taking legal redressal by filing petitions which are duly attested and he is apparently going to legal offices and getting affidavits attested but in spite of that, there is failure of intelligence on the part of the respondent-state who is not been able to apprehend him and we can only record our dismay,” the bench of justice GS Sandhawalia and justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan observed.
Hundal was dismissed from service by the Punjab government on April 17 for allegedly colluding with drug smugglers, framing innocent people in false cases and running an extortion racket along with another police official, Inderjit Singh.
He was granted interim protection from arrest in a disproportionate assets case registered in April by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB), on October 10.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had on October 6 granted anticipatory bail to Hundal in another FIR, registered in 2017, on allegations of drug trafficking. He was named in the FIR after his dismissal.
The fresh case in which Hundal has been granted interim protection from arrest was registered on Section 59 of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and Prevention of Corruption Act by the Special Task Force, Mohali.
While granting interim protection, the court posted the matter for hearing on December 12 and directed Hundal to report to the investigating officer from 3 pm to 5 pm daily, keeping in view the stringent conditions already imposed by the apex court and directing him not to approach any witnesses.
