Tarn Taran village ex-sarpanch, aide get 10-yr jail in drugs case

Sukhwinder Singh, alias Bittu, a former sarpanch of Lakhna village in Khemkaran constituency of Tarn Taran district, and his associate Twinklejit Singh of Amritsar were arrested with 1kg heroin and a pistol near the Amritsar railway station in January 2017

A local court has sentenced a former sarpanch and his associate to 10-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a drugs case. The court has also imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh each on the convicts.

Former sarpanch of Lakhna village in Khemkaran constituency of Tarn Taran district Sukhwinder Singh was held with heroin in 2017.

Sukhwinder Singh, alias Bittu, a former sarpanch of Lakhna village in Khemkaran constituency of Tarn Taran district, and his associate Twinklejit Singh of Amritsar were arrested with 1kg heroin and a pistol following a tip-off near the Amritsar railway station by state special operation cell (SSOC) wing of the Punjab Police in January 2017.

Sukhwinder joined the Congress ahead of the 2017 assembly polls in the state.

SSOC’s inspector Inderdeep Singh, who was investigation officer of the case, said: “The court of additional sessions judge Harjit Singh has convicted the duo under Section 25 of the NDPS Act. The court on Monday sentenced the duo to 10-year rigorous incarceration.”

The case dates back to January 3, 2017 when a team of the SSOC led by inspector Inderdeep Singh apprehended the duo in a car. The police, in a first information report, had claimed that the accused were in contact with a Lahore-based heroin smuggler. It was also claimed that the accused had smuggled many consignments of heroin from Pakistan.