E-Paper
Ludhiana: 13 cops sentenced to 5-yr jail for corruption
13 policemen in Ludhiana, India, including a sub-inspector, have been sentenced to five years in prison in a corruption case. They were convicted of accepting bribes to facilitate illegal lottery operations. The case was registered in 2003 and evidence was presented in court through hidden camera footage. One of the complainants died during the course of the case.
A court here on Friday sentenced 13 policemen of Ludhiana, including a sub-inspector, to five years in prison in a corruption case.
The additional sessions judge Ajit Attri also imposed fines on the convicted officers. The court’s decision came two decades after complainants Bittu Chawla and Subhash Kaitty registered a case against the cops.
The convicted policemen have been identified as sub-inspector Darshan Singh, head constable Milka Singh, head constable Jaswinder Singh, head constable Sartaj Singh, head constable Amrik Singh, head constable Kuldeep Singh, head constable Jai Krishna, head constable Baldev Singh, constable Palwinder Singh, constable Rakesh Kumar, constable Amrik Singh, constable Amrik Singh, and special police officer Prem Singh. These personnel were posted at Division Number 6 in Ludhiana during the time of the alleged corruption.
Chawla and Kaitty, who were into lottery business, had accused the officials of accepting bribes, leading to the initiation of a thorough investigation in 2003. The complainants claimed that each police employee would regularly take bribes ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹5,000, primarily to facilitate illegal lottery operations. They had produced videos of the errant cops accepting bribes, shot with hidden cameras.
According to complainants, their lottery business was subjected to constant harassment by these officials. The policemen extorted money from them and also intimidated them. In response to continued harassment, the complainants installed CCTV cameras to record the illicit activities. The recorded footage was later presented as evidence in court.
Chawla died during the course of the case due to an ailment. After the duo had filed a complaint against the police personnel, the police department had lodged multiple cases against these officials. Allegedly, there were 33 cases registered against Chawla as a result of police coercion. Kaitty also faced a similar situation after revealing the misconduct of these officials to a senior officer. In attempts to tamper with the CCTV footage, some police officers were also implicated.
