Ludhiana: Anti-drug force SI arrested for ‘illegally’ detaining 2 suspects

The Punjab Anti Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) on Monday arrested one of its sub-inspectors for allegedly illegally detaining two suspects in a drugs case and misrepresenting the circumstances surrounding an opium recovery, officials said.
They said the accused, sub-inspector (SI) Gurmeet Singh, the then officiating head of the ANTF’s Ludhiana unit, is under scanner for alleged misconduct in handling the case.
ANTF officials said the two suspects were apprehended in Patiala’s Patran and the SI allegedly kept them in custody overnight and ‘falsely’ documented their arrest from Ludhiana the next day. A first-information report (FIR) was registered against the drugs suspects, Charanjit Singh and Ranvir Singh, on September 18 at the ANTF police station in Mohali after the SI claimed to have recovered 690 gm opium from their possession.
After his suspicions were raised, deputy superintendent of police (DSP ANTF) Satwinder Singh Virk brought the matter to the notice of senior officials and a probe was ordered.
While SI Gurmeet had informed Virk that the two accused were arrested from GT Road in Ludhiana’s Sarabha Nagar, the suspects alleged they were picked up from Patran’s Khetla village a day earlier.
They alleged Singh detained them overnight ‘illegally’, before staging their arrest in Ludhiana.
The ANTF officials found that two civilian aides of SI Gurmeet, Narinder Singh of Muktsar and Lakhwinder Singh of Ludhiana, were present at the time of the arrest. They said the accused SI could not provide a satisfactory explanation regarding their presence and involvement in police proceedings, raising further concerns.
ANTF Ludhiana range assistant inspector general (AIG) Snehdeep Sharma confirmed the probe into sub-inspector’s alleged ‘mishandling’ of the case.
“There are indications that the facts were misrepresented, and the authenticity of the opium recovery is under review,” said Sharma.
SI Gurmeet Singh has been named in the FIR registered under sections 127-2 (wrongful confinement) and 61-2 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and 59 (2) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The two civilian aides present at the spot at the time of the arrest have also been nominated in the case.
Talking to mediapersons while in police custody, SI Gurmeet Singh claimed he was innocent and alleged he was ‘falsely implicated’ in the case.