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Haryana: Cop who accused DSP of false implication in drugs case sacked
Sharing details, SP Upasana said the matter stemmed from a recent raid conducted under Kaithal city police station limits, in which a substantial quantity of drugs was seized
Kaithal superintendent of police (SP) on Saturday dismissed head constable from service for alleged gross misconduct, insubordination and indiscipline under Rule 16.2(1) of the Punjab Police Rules.
Police sources said constable Sunil Sandhu also violated Rules 14.8 and 14.44 of the Punjab Police Rules pertaining to “making unsubstantiated complaints against a superior officer and communicating official information to the press”.
Earlier this week, Sandhu had alleged in a social media post that DSP Kalayat Lalit Yadav had allegedly threatened to implicate him in a false “smack” case and was mentally harassing him despite his role in the anti-drug campaign. Sandhu, who has nearly nine lakh followers on Facebook, continued posting videos even after a probe into his allegations was marked to DSP Guhla Kuldeep Beniwal by the SP.
Sandhu was a member of a nine-member “Nasha Mukti Jagrukta” (anti-drug awareness) team.
Sharing details, SP Upasana said the matter stemmed from a recent raid conducted under Kaithal city police station limits, in which a substantial quantity of drugs was seized. However, the provisions of the NDPS Act were allegedly not followed.
“Despite being an experienced investigating officer, Sandhu violated mandatory norms and the whole case lapsed. No gazetted officer was called during the search and the supplier was searched simultaneously, which is a clear procedural violation. An inquiry conducted by DSP (AEC) Gurvinder Singh found that Sandhu had clearly violated the rules,” she said.
Following the lapse, the entire awareness team was shifted to Police Lines. However, according to the SP, only Sandhu was found responsible for procedural violations and for creating social media videos.
“Even when the probe was underway, Sandhu leveled serious allegations against DSP Kalayat on the night of February 23 in a Facebook post. The manner in which he raised the grievance by going directly to the media/social media, instead of following the police hierarchy, is a clear violation of Punjab Police Rules. An inquiry was marked to DSP Guhla. When he was called to join the probe, Sandhu issued videos commenting on it,” she added.
The SP said some of Sandhu’s videos included protest calls and references to hunger strikes, which she described as having a threatening tone. The matter later took a caste angle with the involvement of certain khap panchayats, she added.
According to the SP, the prevailing atmosphere led witnesses in related cases to fear intimidation, making a fair inquiry difficult. “The DSP Guhla submitted that in the present atmosphere of threat and pressure, a fair probe cannot be conducted. However, our intelligence and other sources suggested that the allegations Sandhu leveled against DSP Kalayat, were baseless. Moreover, Sandhu used the uniform to get more likes and other personal as well as monetary gains. This is another violation of the rules,” she added.
The SP said that the head constable displayed gross misconduct, insubordination, and indiscipline, which falls under the definition of Rule 16.2(1) of the Punjab Police Rules.
“His gross misconduct and disregard for rules created an atmosphere through social media that threatened to disrupt the discipline of the police department and the peace of society. In these circumstances, it became imperative to exercise the powers granted under Article 311(2)(b) of the Constitution of India to maintain discipline within the police department and the peace of society. Exercising the powers granted under Rule 16.2 of the Punjab Police Rules and Article 311(2)(b) of the Indian Constitution, he was dismissed from government service,” she said.
Further countering allegations of laxity in NDPS enforcement, the SP said that in 2025, the district had registered 30% to 35% more NDPS cases compared to the previous year. She added that 14 persons had been detained under PIT-NDPS provisions so far, and assets worth crores belonging to drug suppliers and proclaimed offenders had been attached.
