3 Cops Imprisoned for 1993 Murder; War on Drugs Claims Victim

On 31 May, a Special Central Bureau of Investigation Court in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (SAS Nagar) sentenced three former Panjab Police officers to three to eight years of rigorous imprisonment with fines and acquitted two constables of all charges. Special Judge-II Baljinder Singh Sra held Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Karamjit Singh, former Inspector Manjit Singh, and former Sub-Inspector Gurmej Singh guilty of extrajudiciously killing Palwinder Singh from Rawalpindi village in Kapurthala district. The policemen abducted Palwinder on 27 Mar 1993. The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on 5 Apr 1993 at Sultanpur Lodhi police station. Meanwhile, as part of Panjab government’s War on Drugs, on 23 May, Bathinda police’s Crime Investigative Agency (CIA) picked up Goniana town residents Narinderdeep Singh and Gagandeep Singh when they were coming from Ferozepur to Bathinda. Narinderdeep died in police custody and his family refused to cremate him until an FIR was filed. Post-mortem revealed marks on the body and scalp from torture using electricity. The four CIA staff members were suspended and are absconding. Under the War on Drugs that started on 1 Mar and formally ended on 31 May, Panjab police arrested 13,866 smugglers. That means in the last 87 days, the police caught an average of 159 smugglers every day. Before the Panjab govt. launched the campaign against drugs, there were about 31K prisoners in the state’s jails. At present, there are 37,516 prisoners. This shows at least half of those arrested in the last three months have been released on bail. At a press conference on 31 May, Panjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said its intelligence reports and informal surveys indicate a disruption in the drug supply chain across the state, resulting in a 50% increase in street-level heroin prices and a 40% rise in the prices of synthetic drugs. He said the War of Drugs will continue for another 60 days. Panjab govt. claims in the last three years, 10K police personnel involved in trafficking have been transferred and 100 police officers arrested (earlier coverage).