E-Paper
Drugs and graft case: More trouble for Punjab Police DIG Inderbir as co-accused turns approver
In a fresh trouble for 2007-batch IPS officer deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Inderbir Singh, a Tarn Taran court has declared one of the co-accused --- suspended deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Lakhbir Singh Sandhu --- as an approver in a drugs and corruption case of 2022
CHANDIGARH : In a fresh trouble for 2007-batch IPS officer deputy inspector general (DIG) of police Inderbir Singh, a Tarn Taran court has declared one of the co-accused --- suspended deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Lakhbir Singh Sandhu --- as an approver in a drugs and corruption case of 2022.
In its order, the court of judge Rakesh Kumar Singla said: “Lakhbir Singh is declared approver and is called as witness.” The court also summoned Inderbir for April 1.
Inderbir is the first DIG-rank IPS officer in Punjab to be chargesheeted by the vigilance bureau (VB) in two cases. Lakhbir had in January approached the VB vigilance bureau and the court to turn approver.
Lakhbir alleged that he handed over the bribe money to Inderbir and recorded his confession before the Tarn Taran court.
Though Inderbir has been named as an accused in drugs and corruption, no action has been taken against him to date. The DIG is currently posted at the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) headquarters, Jalandhar.
Accused of taking bribe from drug supplier
In the first case, DSP Lakhbir (now suspended) was booked for allegedly taking ₹10-lakh bribe from a drug supplier, Pishora Singh, for not naming him in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case registered by the Bhikhiwind police in Tarn Taran on July 3, 2022.
In his affidavit, Lakhbir told the court that his cousin Hira Singh had asked him to help Pishora, who was named in a 2022 drug case in Tarn Taran. Lakhbir said he had spoken to Inderbir via a WhatsApp call and requested him to not nominate Pishora in the matter.
“Inderbir told me that he has spoken to cops in Tarn Taran, but in return, he wanted ₹12 lakh from Pishora,” read the affidavit.
Lakhbir further submitted before the court that Pishora gave him ₹10 lakh to be paid to Inderbir but he was still named as a co-accused in the drugs case on July 3, 2022. An amount of ₹9.97 lakh was recovered from the house of Hira Singh at the instance of Pishora, which was allegedly to be given to Inderbir.
Extortion from sub-inspector
In the second case, Lakhbir and the then reader of the DIG, Barjinder Singh, were booked for allegedly extorting ₹23 lakh from a sub-inspector (SI) for not implicating him in a drugs case in July 2022.
In his affidavit, Lakhbir told the court that on December 12, 2021, he had come to know from his cousin ASI Rashpal Singh that sub-inspector Baljinder Singh had been kept in illegal detention in Ferozepur on the directions of Inderbir.
“I went to Chandigarh and met Inderbir and spoke to him about Baljinder. Inderbir demanded ₹35 lakh to settle the matter, stating that if we failed to pay, he would get an FIR registered against the SI under the NDPS Act,” reads the affidavit.
The affidavit further states that the SI gave ₹10 lakh and ₹13 lakh to Lakhbir at his office and house on December 13 and 15, 2021, respectively. Lakhbir said he handed over ₹23 lakh to Inderbir on December 21, 2021, at his official residence at Ferozepur.
Controversial past
In 2017, Inderbir faced allegations of alleged extortion of ₹23 lakh in a murder case when he was posted as Sangrur SSP. Capt Amarinder Singh, then CM, had ordered vigilance probe. But the VB gave him a clean chit.
The Punjab government had sent the name of Inderbir for the post of Chandigarh SSP in 2017 but withdrew it later following the controversy.
In 2021, the state government again appointed him as the DIG of Ferozepur range. Later, he was indicted by a Supreme Court-appointed inquiry committee, led by justice Indu Malhotra (retd), for dereliction of duty, in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security breach.
