Four booked for assault on anti-drug crusader

2 women addicts point finger at cops

Adding a new twist to the drug abuse cases in Punjab, two young women being treated at the newly set up Drug De-addiction Centre for Women at Kapurthala accused two police officials of putting them on drugs, they were promptly discharged from the centre on the pretext that they have been completed the treatment.

Much to the discomfort of Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra, who was accompanied by Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh, one of them had publicly claimed that a former SHO, now posted in Jalandhar, had got her hooked on to heroin while the other blamed it on a DSP.

The MLA claimed he had asked one of them to submit a written complaint so that an inquiry could be ordered. He tore into his own government on the issue. “Action should be free, fair and immediate, but it’s not happening,” the former minister said, citing the case of a scribe’s son who was allegedly introduced to smack by an ASI.

He accused senior officials of not initiating action against “shady cops” despite complaints routed through him. “When I was minister, I moved a complaint against an ASI with the CIA staff in Kapurthala for putting a youth on drugs. More than 15 months later, there has been no action,” he claimed. At least 12 persons, he said, had made similar charges against the ASI, who had been promoted.  Later in the evening, the MLA toned down the attack.

“Tighten noose around peddlers”

Chief Minister of Punjab Capt Amarinder Singh has ordered Deputy Commissioners to tighten their noose around drug smugglers.

Interacting with the DCs through video-conferencing, the CM said a lot needed to be done to eliminate the drug menace and rid the state of gangsters.

The Tarn Taran wing of Punjab police has booked a medical store owner, his wife and their two accomplices who had allegedly assaulted an ex-serviceman, Jasbir Singh (53), at Noordi village.

The district administration has started a probe into the incident. Deputy Commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal marked an inquiry to Additional Deputy Commissioner. The latter visited the Civil Hospital on and recorded the victim’s statement.

Jasbir has been protesting against drug abuse in his native village. This did not go down well with the suspects. Assaulted at his residence, he was admitted to the Civil Hospital with injuries on legs and arms.

“I have been complaining about the sale of drugs by the medical store owner and his wife for the past several years, but nothing was done by the police to nail the couple,” he claimed.

Medical store owner Gurdeep Singh, wife Raj Kaur, Happy and Kala were booked. No arrest has been made so far.

Jasbir alleged that Gurdeep was a drug peddler. He claimed that his brother-in-law, Ranjit Singh (45), had died of drug overdose five years ago, following which he had become an anti-drug crusader. The Tarn Taran police said raids were on to nab the culprits.