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Punjab police bust gangster’s nexus; Goindwal jail official among 6 held
Deputy superintendent Balbir Singh had allegedly been getting ₹50,000 per barrack for providing facilities, including the usage of mobiles, to notorious criminals
The anti-drug special task force (STF) of Punjab police has unearthed a high-profile nexus of gangsters, who had been operating from inside the newly built high-security Goindwal Central Jail in collusion with a senior prison officer for smuggling of arms, drugs and explosives from across the border.
The STF has also arrested six persons in this case, including five inmates and a deputy superintendent of police, in this case. Those arrested are Balbir Singh, deputy superintendent (jail), inmates Karam Singh alias Fateh, Harpreet Singh alias Happy, Rashpal Singh alias Daula, Arpit Jain and Jatinder Rambo.
As per reports, all the inmates are hardcore criminals facing several cases, including those under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act.
A senior STF official, who didn’t wish to be named, said, “The deputy superintendent had been providing a safe haven to inmates in the jail. He had been getting ₹50,000 per barrack per month from the inmates for providing them with various facilities, including living space and the usage of mobile phones.”
“Happy and Daulla collected the mobile phones thrown from outside into the jail. The deputy superintendent had also been protecting the criminals from the checking and searching operations by other jail staff,” the STF official added.
According to information, a team of Amritsar STF busted the nexus during the interrogation of one of the accused Karam Singh. “On September 28, a case was registered against Karam Singh after a mobile phone was recovered from his possession in the jail. The case was thoroughly investigated and the STF team arrested the four other inmates. All the inmates confessed that they were being facilitated by the deputy superintendent,” said the official.
“Each of the arrested five inmates is facing 10 to 18 criminal cases, including that of murder and attempted murder,” he added.
STF’s deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Vawinder Mahajan, who led the operation, confirmed the arrests but didn’t disclose any details. He said they had obtained a one-day remand of the deputy superintendent for further questioning.
Police sources in Goindwal Sahib said the deputy superintendent had already been facing two cases of corruption in jail. The jail, since its inauguration, has been in the limelight due to the recovery of mobiles and drugs from inmates almost on a daily basis. Last month, gangster Deepak Tinu, accused in the murder of singer Sidhu Moose Wala, was found to be in possession of a mobile phone inside the jail. Days later, he had fled from the Mansa police’s custody.
On October 6, the counterintelligence wing of Punjab Police busted a module, which was operating from inside the Goindwal jail for the smuggling of arms from Pakistan.
