Chandigarh, Apr 18 (PTI) The three reports of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) prove the complicity of now dismissed PPS officer Raj Jit Singh with a former police inspector and their collusion with drug smugglers, a Punjab government order said.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday had ordered the dismissal of PPS officer Raj Jit Singh, acting on reports highlighting an alleged nexus between police officers and drug traffickers in the state.
Three sealed cover reports regarding the role of police officials in the drug trade in the state were opened by the Punjab and Haryana high court on March 28.
These reports were submitted in 2018 by the then DGP S Chattopadhayaya-led SIT, formed by the high court. They had been lying in the court since then.
The SIT, formed in 2017, had the mandate to probe allegations of complicity of Raj Jit Singh, the then senior superintendent of police, Moga, in respect of his alleged association with dismissed police inspector Inderjit Singh.
Inderjit Singh was dismissed from service following recovery of drugs by the special task force in 2017.
According to the order issued on April 17 by the Home Affairs Department over the dismissal of the PPS officer from service, “The three reports leave no iota of doubt and prove the complicity of Raj Jit Singh with Inderjit Singh and their collusion with drug smugglers whereby they not only misused their official positions to serve their own vested interests but had also been instrumental in spread of drug menace in the state by extending help to the drug peddlers/smugglers.” Raj Jit Singh had allegedly given patronage to Inderjit Singh and the duo had “misused and abused” their official positions to “mint money”, it stated.
“During the tenure of Raj Jit Singh as SSP Tarn Taran and Inderjit Singh as Incharge CIA, more than 50 samples in cases under the NDPS Act failed which shows that they had not left any stone unturned to hijack the government machinery to fulfil their own vested interests,” said the order.
“Raj Jit Singh (PPS) as SSP Tarn Taran abused his official positions in order to shield the drug peddlers/smugglers from the clutches of law, implicate the innocent persons in false drug cases and also managed to scuttle the investigations in the FIRs registered against Inderjit Singh,” it added.
As per the order, Raj Jit Singh was “well aware” of the technicalities involved in the cases registered under the NDPS Act and together with Inderjit Singh “used those technicalities as tools to serve his own vested interests, to extort money and to help the drug peddlers/smugglers escape the stringent punishment…”.
“The retention of such an official in the police department, which is an integral part of justice delivery system and is also responsible for protecting the society and the nation, will not be desirable,” it noted.
The fact cannot be ignored that the state of Punjab is a border state and the neighbouring country is actively engaged in promoting drug abuse, terrorism and shattering the economy, peace and harmony in Punjab and the country as well, the order stated.
“The money generated from the supply of narcotic drugs is used to fund criminal and anti-national activities in the state and there is close nexus between drug peddlers/smugglers, gangsters and other anti-social elements.
“Raj Jit Singh, in a way, had been instrumental in such anti-national and illegal activities by abusing his official position in complicity with said Inderjit Singh,” it added.
It further said the SIT reports were well reasoned and supported by documentary evidence which are self-speaking in nature and are sufficient to draw inference against Raj Jit Singh and leave no scope for any further inquiry.
“Whereas the SIT has collected sufficient evidence against Raj Jit Singh. The charges of running drug and extortion rackets in conspiracy with Inderjit Singh have been proved.
“The misconduct committed by Sh. Raj Jit Singh, PPS, is grave in nature which does not entitle him to any leniency and he deserves to be awarded major penalty as his conduct is most egregious. Accordingly, Rai Jit Singh, PPS, is hereby dismissed from service,” the order noted. PTI CHS VSD AQS AQS
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