Man let off in Poohla murder names peddlers in posters

ravi dhaliwal

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Tribune News Service

Batala, March 19

A 33-year-old man acquitted of Nihang Ajit Singh Poohla’s murder in 2008 has put up posters and hoardings at all major chowks and other strategic locations in Batala town naming people who are into the drug smuggling business. Residents and police officers were taken aback in the morning when the news of the hoardings surfaced.

Navtej Singh Guggu ‘Don’, a resident of Dharampura colony who along with his accomplice Harchand Singh was accused of pouring diesel on Poohla in Amritsar jail nearly seven years ago before setting him afire, admitted that he and activists of his social organisation—‘Sab Da Bhala’—had hung these hoardings.

He claimed he had named 20 persons in these hoardings who were “openly engaged in the smuggling of narcotics in Batala and its adjoining towns and in Gurdaspur jail”. “I had informed the police of their nefarious activities many times, but they took no action,” he said.

The police went on the defensive with SSP Inderbir Singh saying they would be investigating Navtej’s claims and would act only after the investigations were complete. “Several teams have been formed and are ascertaining the claims made by Navtej. I am not sure whether the people named by him are actually into the drug business or Navtej has added their names out of vengeance,” he said.

Navtej claimed he had collected information about the drug smuggling activities of people named by him after several months of efforts. “I am out not to defame anyone. My team working under the banner of -‘Sab Da Bhala’- has collected these names after doing a lot of hard work. I challenge the police to name even one of the 20 people who is not into the drug business. All the people named in my posters are known drug smugglers,” he said.