Tarn Taran cops who let off drug smugglers continue evading arrest

The Tarn Taran cops who let off the drug smugglers are now no longer in service, having been dismissed from their posts; the 21kg opium they did not being on record has also not been seized yet

Tarn Taran Nine days after two head-constables were booked for letting off two drug smugglers by taking ₹40 lakh bribe, they are yet to be arrested. Punjab Police have also failed to recover 21-kg opium that was seized from the smugglers that was not brought on record.

The drug smugglers had caught in Amritsar by the Tarn Taran cops; the accused has been let off after ₹40 lakh bribe; the same accused were caught again, leading to the discovery of the crime. (HT Photo)

On November 6, head constables Sukhwinder Singh and Malkiat Singh, and constables Arpinderjit Singh and Arshdeep Singh were booked at Tarn Taran City police station for releasing Ranjit Singh, alias Rana, and Jaspal Singh of Bhitewind village in Amritsar. Rana and Jaspal were caught with 21-kg opium in Ranjit Avenue area of Amritsar on August 20.

Instead of registering a case, the four cops allegedly took ₹40 lakh bribe and the contraband was not confiscated. The accused constables have been arrested. All four cops have been dismissed.

The cops were booked after Ranjit was arrested in October by the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) wing of Punjab Police in Amritsar for allegedly smuggling opium into Punjab. During the interrogation, Ranjit revealed to the SSOC about the August 20 incident.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP-city) Barjinder Singh said, “Our teams are working to nab the accused. Investigation is on.” Sources said some more police officials’ names had cropped up during investigation, but there had been no action in the case.