Ex-Cops Jailed in Sex Scandal, Cop Killed in Village Fight & Bajwa Charged

On 29 Mar, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar sentenced four ex-Panjab police officers in the 2007 Moga sex scandal, handing rigorous prison terms and fines for corruption and extortion. Former Moga Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Devinder Singh Garcha and the then Superintendent of Police (headquarters) Paramdip Singh Sandhu were each handed five years of rigorous imprisonment and fined USD 2.3K after being convicted under sections 13(1) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Meanwhile, on 9 Apr, in Kot Mohammad Khan village, Tarn Taran district, a Sub-Inspector (SI) Charanjit Singh was fatally shot during a clash between two groups. SI Charanjit was shot with a service pistol snatched from the police by Rajandeep Singh on orders from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sarpanch (village head) Kuldeep Singh. In Jalandhar, authorities arrested a youth identified as the primary suspect in the grenade attack on Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoranjan Kalia’s residence; investigations revealed links to fugitive gangster Zeeshan Akhtar, believed to operate from abroad. Meanwhile, Panjab Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa recently said in a television interview, ‘50 bombs/hand grenades have been smuggled into Panjab, with 18 already used in terror activities.’ Even though the interview has not been aired, on the basis of the promotional videos of the interview, Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann questioned Bajwa’s sources and accused him of fomenting panic. Bajwa insists his claims came from credible intelligence channels but has been charged by the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar police for ‘false and misleading information’ that could compromise national security and unity. Bajwa had recently criticized the AAP administration’s ‘War on Drugs’, condemning the reported use of schoolchildren to detect drug-related activity in Faridkot as a ‘dangerous gimmick.’ He accused CM Mann of prioritizing publicity stunts over genuine solutions, warning that Panjab’s citizens would not be deceived by symbolic gestures (earlier coverage).