Punjab: Big fish in drug racket among society’s most respected, says ED ex-officer Niranjan Singh
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 2
Former Enforcement Directorate Deputy Director Niranjan Singh, who has investigated several high-profile money laundering and drug trafficking cases against police personnel and politicians, has claimed the “big fish in the contraband racket were among the most respected in the society”.
“I was deputed in Punjab for a long time. There is a deep-rooted nexus between drug traffickers, drug lords and police personnel... not at the lower, but the highest level,” he said in an exclusive interview with Deputy Editor Jupinderjit Singh and Special Correspondent Rajmeet Singh for The Tribune show ‘Decode Punjab’.
Niranjan maintained that after putting in decades of service investigating the money laundering aspect of the drug trafficking trade, he had arrived at the conclusion that “smugglers, police personnel and politicians were protecting each other”.
Police role crucial
It’s the prime job of the police to check drug smuggling. If someone can’t do it, he should hand it over to someone else. —Niranjan Singh, Former enforcement directorate deputy director
Having investigated the infamous drug racket involving Jagdish Bhola, an Arjuna awardee wrestler and suspended Punjab Police officer who was convicted recently, Niranjan said the strings in the illicit trade weren’t held by one person, but by multiple accused. “A drug smuggler needs police protection and the one in khaki requires political shield. This nexus has been there for more than 20 years and different governments, despite tall claims, failed to demolish it. So, people lack the courage to act. The drug menace now equally affects women too,” he remarked.
Insisting there was no check on drugs, Niranjan said the Punjab people would have to come out on the streets to fight trafficking and addiction. He said the police were the prime agency to check smuggling.
Referring to the case of dismissed police officer Raj Jit Singh, Niranjan recalled how the Punjab Police did not share the case details with him when he was investigating the matter. “It was only after high court directions that the police budged... The money laundering aspect of every FIR under the NDPS Act needs to be probed thoroughly. Only then can the money trail be exposed.”
On interference in investigations by influential persons or even higher-ups in the Enforcement Directorate, Niranjan asserted the problem was not initiating an inquiry, but dealing with a positive outcome. “Whenever an investigation officer comes across clues that tend to touch the mighty, the pressure game starts,” he said, recalling how one of his seniors got so perturbed by his “fair investigation that he asked other officers to hound him”. “At a meeting, my senior told my colleagues to hound me. I even questioned his directives through an official letter,” he said.
Criticising the previous Capt Amarinder Singh regime (2017-21), Niranjan said, “This period was a disgrace. Mainly because before coming to power, his party had promised to demolish the drug network.”
