Quick criminals or fast cover-up?

Can anyone be involved in two crimes at the same time when the scenes are 500 kilometres apart?

Believe it or not, two men reported to have fled a murder scene in Uttarakhand on November 20 were, round about the same time, also caught with liquor in the Khalra police jurisdiction of Tarn Taran district. Over this matter, two police officers in Punjab now have received suspension order.

Suspects Mohinder Singh and Joga Singh and 12 others were charged in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand with shooting three people to death over a land dispute in Kashipur area. That crime was reported at 11.40am on November 20 in Uttarakhand, and almost an hour later, the Khalra police had shown to have seized liquor from them. It's another matter that the two spots are more than 500 kilometers apart.

It's to be established which first-information report (FIR) genuine but the Tarn Taran police have issued suspension order to a station house officer (SHO), an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), and a couple of other men in uniform.

A police from Uttarakhand that reached Tarn Taran on a hunt for murder suspects on November 23 was stunned on finding the two men behind bars there for the violation of the excise law. It contacted the higher officials back in its state.

About the firing incident near Kashipur, the Uttarakhand police had lodged a case against 14 people, Anant Shankar Takwale, senior superintendent of police in Udham Singh Nagar, has confirmed. Mohinder Singh and Joga Singh are among the suspects in the case registered at Kashipur.

"We received an input that they were in Tarn Taran district of Punjab," said Takwale. "When our team got there, it found that they had been charged under the excise law there on November 20."

Replying to a question, SSP Takwale said "it was shocking, definitely". He has spoken with his counterpart in Tarn Taran and written to him to seek against the Punjab police officials involved.

KS Dhillon, SSP of Tarn Taran, confirmed the action taken against Jagdish Raj, SHO of Khalra; and ASI and two other policemen. A team will look into the registration of two cases the same day.