Drug supplier woman held in PPA case

Jalandhar, May 21

The Phillaur police on Saturday arrested a woman in connection with the drug racket at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Police Academy. The accused, Nidhi, is a resident of Panjdheha Jagatpura village, near the academy from where the key accused in the PPA, head constable Shakti Kumar, used to procure drugs.

The SSP, Jalandhar (Rural), Swapan Sharma, said she had been arrested under Sections 21B-61-85 of the NDPS Act and a recovery of 42 grams of heroin had been made from her. Nidhi was already facing cases under the NDPS Act.

Sharma said five more accused in the case had been detained by the Phillaur police. “We are in the process of lodging an FIR against them and hence, cannot disclose their names as of now. They are the ones against whom an internal inquiry by the PPA had pointed out to their involvement in the racket,” he said.

Insiders said they all were constable-rank young police personnel who had got addicted to drugs. While two of them are from the drill staff, the other three are from the line staff.

Meanwhile, the last rites of head constable Harmanpreet Singh, who passed away yesterday, were held at his native Kullewal village in Bathinda. He is survived by his wife, a three-year-old daughter and a five-month-old son. His father, who too was an inspector in the PPA, had passed away in November last year, months after his retirement. He had got to know about his son’s involvement in drugs and his links with Shakti Kumar some time before his death. A car and two scooters, that the family owned, are also lying mortgaged as he had taken loans for the purchase of intoxicants. The family said he had stopped sending his salary for the monthly expenditure of his family back home. The PPA officials who attended his funeral offered Rs 10,000 in cash as assistance to them.