Chandigarh Police on Monday suspended an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), who allegedly helped a proclaimed offender (PO) evade arrest for at least five years.
HT reported on Monday how an internal probe of the department had found that ASI Shamsher Singh, currently posted at Sector 11, had aided Naveen Nayyar, a Dhakoli-based property dealer and builder, who was wanted in a cheating case registered in 2009.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) UT Nilambari Jagadale issued the suspension orders on the basis of this internal probe conducted by the operation cell. A departmental inquiry has also been marked.
“Shamsher has been suspended and sent to police lines till the probe is completed. Deputy superintendent of police Ram Gopal will conduct it,” said Jagadale.
The SSP said that although most of the PO and summon unit staff was reshuffled recently, its functioning will be reviewed in light of the latest case. Sources privy to the matter said ASI Shamsher is suspected to have been shielding many POs.
When contacted, Shamsher Singh didn’t respond.
THE CASE
Nayyar, who was on the run since 2009, was arrested by the operation cell on September 13. During stringent questioning, he allegedly revealed that he came in contact with Shamsher, who was then a head constable and posted in the PO and summons cell, in 2014.
The ASI allegedly assured Nayyar that he will help him evade arrest but in exchange the latter should pay him ₹1 lakh every month or more whenever he asked for it. Apart from this, Shamsher also took expensive liquor and construction material from Nayyar to build his new house in Aerocity in Mohali.
{{/usCountry}}The ASI allegedly assured Nayyar that he will help him evade arrest but in exchange the latter should pay him ₹1 lakh every month or more whenever he asked for it. Apart from this, Shamsher also took expensive liquor and construction material from Nayyar to build his new house in Aerocity in Mohali.
{{/usCountry}}What helped corroborate Nayyar’s claims was the fact that there were over 2,800 calls made from the ASI’s phone to Nayyar’s phone between October 2018 and September 2019.
These calls were made not to arrest or lay a trap but to seek bribe, in the form of money or expensive gifts, in exchange of the “protection” being given to Nayyar, revealed the operation cell probe report.
According to local district courts and police records, Nayyar was declared a PO in 2011. His two accomplices were arrested soon after the case was registered in 2009.