Four Tarn Taran cops suspended for letting off two drug smugglers

A Tarn Taran court has remanded the cops to two-day police custody for letting off drug smugglers; the peddlers had been caught from Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar

Tarn Taran Four policemen, two constables and two head-constables, have been suspended for letting off two drug smugglers after taking ₹40 lakh in bribe. They had been booked on Sunday; they also face a departmental probe now.

The Tarn Taran cops were suspended for letting off drug smugglers, after one of those released was caught again. Police have also launched departmental proceedings against the headconstables and constables. (HT FILE )

The accused headconstables, Sukhwinder Singh and Malkiat Singh, and constables, Arpinderjit Singh and Arshdeep Singh, had caught Ranjit Singh, alias Rana, and Jaspal Singh, of Bhitewind village in Amritsar, from Ranjit Avenue area in Amritsar on August 20 this year with 21kg opium.

The action against the cops resulted after the accused Ranjit Singh was again arrested by the police last month for drug smuggling. During interrogation, he revealed the August 20 incident to the police; the accused did not even sow the recovered opium on record. The two constables have been arrested, with the headconstables still absconding.

On Monday, the constables were presented before a local court in Tarn Taran and remanded to three-day police custody. Police have also applied for the production warrant of Ranjit and Jaspal, with the 21kg opium and ₹40 lakh drug money yet to be recovered.

DSP City Barjinder Singh said, “Our teams are working to recover the contraband and the money.” A police source added that the accused cops were likely to be dismissed from service, if found guilty in the departmental probe.