4 Punjab cops held for framing Kapurthala resident in drug case

Aparna Banerji
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, August 4
The Kapurthala police have arrested four of the five members of a Punjab Police special task force (STF) for registering a false case of drugs against a local resident about five years ago.
The accused police personnel had got the FIR lodged against Kuldeep Singh, alias Sonu, at the Kapurthala City police station in 2019 under the NDPS Act for alleged possession of heroin and poppy husk. Sonu had filed a writ petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered action against the five police personnel in a ruling last year. On the high court’s order, an FIR was registered against them on December 21, 2023, at the Kapurthala City police station under Sections 58, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act.
The arrested police personnel are Assistant Sub-Inspector Sylwaster Masih and Constables Major Singh, Gurvinder Singh and Sham Masih. Major Singh was arrested on Saturday and the remaining three on Friday. The police have obtained their three-day remand. The fifth accused, Assistant Sub-Inspector Kuldeep Singh, is yet to be arrested. On September 23, 2019, Sylwaster had got the FIR registered against Sonu, a resident of Mohalla Mulkana in Kapurthala, alleging his arrest after the recovery of 20 grams of heroin and 250 grams of poppy husk from his possession near Kusht Ashram (Kapurthala). The STF members had alleged that Sonu dropped two polybags carrying the contraband from the pockets of his trousers. Two more youths were later named in the case.
On April 16, 2020, the police presented a challan in the court. Maintaining that the FIR was false, Sonu filed a writ petition in the high court and also presented CCTV footage of his service station that showed the police personnel visiting him hours before the FIR was lodged.
Sonu petitioned that the FIR was a “complete abuse and misuse of power”. He alleged that the contraband was planted on him after he refused to give in to extortion demand, and that six to seven police personnel visited his workshop on the morning of September 23, 2019. He maintained he was forced to sign blank papers and subjected to physical abuse.
On October 6, 2023, the high court ruled in Sonu’s favour and directed the constitution of a SIT, which was to be headed by the Jalandhar DIG and comprise the Kapurthala SSP and a DSP from Jalandhar. Justice Arun Monga of the high court also ordered the registration of a separate FIR against the erring officials.
Kapurthala DSP Harpreet Singh said, “Four police personnel have been arrested while a hunt is on for the fifth. They were posted in Jalandhar, Patiala, Gurdaspur and Kapurthala.”