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Vigilance grills Punjab Police DIG in ₹23 lakh extortion case
DSP Lakhvir Singh nominated in tha case has said during his interrogation that the extorted money was given to the DIG. The DIG however has said he hadn’t joined any investigation.
The Amritsar vigilance bureau (VB) has recently questioned deputy inspector general (DIG) of Punjab Police, Inderbir Singh, in an alleged extortion case, that was registered in Tarn Taran in July this year. The DIG, however refuted the claim. Faridkot deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Lakhvir Singh and inspector Barjinder Singh of Ferozepur district were booked in Patti city police station of Tarn Taran district for allegedly extorting ₹23 lakh from sub-inspector (SI) Baljinder Singh for not implicating him in a drugs case.
DSP Lakhvir Singh, who was already in jail in another bribery case, was on two-day remand with the VB. On Thursday, the DSP was presented in the court of sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Patti, Amandeep, after his remand had finished. The court sent the DSP to 14-day judicial custody, said the DSP’s counsel advocate Deepak Arora.
Sources said the DSP, during his interrogation, has told the vigilance sleuths that he had given extorted money to the DIG, who is presently posted as joint director of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), vigilance, Amritsar-range, Varinder Singh Sandhu said he cannot reveal anything about the investigation, but a probe into the role of DIG in the case was underway, he added.
As per the first information report (FIR) of the case, the DSP had allegedly taken ₹23 lakh in installements, at the behest of the DIG, who was then posted as DIG-Ferozepur range in December last year. However, the DIG was not booked in the case registered by Tarn Taran police, and it was transferred to the VB later on. Inspector Barjinder Singh was posted as the DIG’s reader at the time of the incident.
“During the remand of the DSP, we also called the DIG and questioned him. The statements of the DSP and the DIG were corroborated. As our investigation into the case is still on, we haven’t nominated the DIG in the case yet. But, we are probing the allegations against him seriously,” said a senior vigilance official, who didn’t wish to be named.
The extortion case was registered days after the DSP was arrested in another case in which ₹10 lakh bribe was accepted allegedly to let off a drugs smuggler. Last month, the DIG was also grilled by the VB in this bribe case also. The DSP was allegedly in contact with the DIG for letting off the drug peddler. However, the vigilance has so far failed to recover the alleged extorted amount in both the cases.
Meanwhile, the DIG, when contacted, said he did not join any investigation into the case. “It is better if you confirm this from them (the vigilance bureau),” he added.
In the extortion case, SI Baljinder Singh, who was posted as in-charge of Patti crime investigation agency (CIA) in December last year, had alleged that he was tortured and illegally detained in Ferozepur’s CIA office at the behest of the DIG. He had alleged that he was threatened of implication in a drug case if he failed to pay ₹25 lakh to the DIG. The DSP had allegedly played the role of a coordinator between the SI and the DIG.
