Murder of deputy dera head: Faridkot court sends DSP to 3-day VB custody

A Faridkot court on Thursday granted three-day custody of Punjab Police DSPto state vigilance bureau in a ₹20 lakh bribe case

A Faridkot court on Thursday granted three-day custody of Punjab Police deputy superintendent of police to state vigilance bureau in a ₹20 lakh bribe case.

The FIR was lodged on the bases of probe of the special investigation team led by the DIG Ferozepur range. (Representational Photo)

On Wednesday, vigilance bureau (VB) had arrested DSP Sushil Kumar for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh to renominate the prime accused whom the cops had declared innocent earlier, in a 2019 murder case. The accused was posted at the third IBR in Ludhiana. In June, then Faridkot SP (investigation) Gagnesh Kumar, then Faridkot DSP Sushil Kumar, sub-inspector (SI) Khem Chand Prashar, who was posted as in-charge of RTI branch of Faridkot IG office, Jaswinder Singh of Faridkot city and Malkeet Das of Bir Sikhan Wala village in Faridkot were booked for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh to renominate the “prime accused” in the murder case of Baba Dayal Das, deputy head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot district.

A case was registered under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 7, 7A, 8 and 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at the Kotkapura Sadar police station. The case has been registered on the complaint of Gagan Dass of Kot Sukhia.

The FIR was lodged on the bases of probe of the special investigation team (SIT) led by the deputy inspector general of police (DIG), Ferozepur range, Ranjit Singh, which had found loopholes in the 2019 murder case probe. On November 7, 2019, two shooters shot dead Baba Dayal Das, the deputy head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot district. Faridkot police named Jarnail Das, head of another Dera branch at Kapurewala village in Moga, as mastermind of the murder. Police had linked the murder to a succession war in the 80-year-old dera that has 12 branches in Punjab and Uttarakhand. The probe had found that Jarnail hatched the conspiracy to kill Dayal, but Punjab Police never arrested him and later gave him a clean chit. In April, Gagan Das, who is officiating as in-charge of the Dera since the death of Hari Das in May 2020, filed a complaint with the Punjab DGP alleging that cops “wrongly” declared “prime accused” Jarnail as innocent and accused Faridkot cops of taking bribe of ₹20 lakh to “re-nominate the prime accused” in the murder case. Following the complaint, a three-member SIT-led by DIG Ranjit Singh was constituted, which has found that officers took bribe.