BSF sacks constable for colluding with peddlers

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 18

BSF constable Chenthilraj Kanagraj, who had reportedly helped smugglers to procure a drug consignment from across the border in exchange for money, has been dismissed from service.

Confirming this, Rajesh Kumar, BSF DIG, Gurdaspur, said during preliminary questioning, it was found that he was in touch with the smugglers through social media sites. “We dismissed him as per the BSF Act and handed him over to the state police for interrogation,” he said. Sources said the accused had been sent to judicial custody.

On the intervening night of June 29 and 30, he was on duty at Border Outpost Singoke in Ramdass sector, the key spot from where he helped the accused sneak in 14.8-kg of heroin worth Rs 74 crore from Pakistan. Preliminary investigations revealed that he had struck the deal for just Rs 30,000.

The matter came to the fore after four persons, including an ex-serviceman, were arrested on July 3 from the Ajnala-Bhindian road. During their interrogation, they told the police about Kanagraj’s alleged involvement.

The accused constable had reportedly done a survey to identify a spot from where he could dodge his colleagues on duty. “He had intimated the accused about the particular spot by sharing his location via social media from where he could help them,” the DIG said.

Kanagraj, a matriculate, had joined the BSF in 2004. He was under debt due to his lavish lifestyle. “During questioning, he confessed that since he was running short of money to meet his liabilities, he fell into the trap,” he said.

Had contacted them via social media

• On the intervening night of June 29 and 30, BSF constable Chenthilraj Kanagraj was on duty at Border Outpost Singoke in Ramdass sector, the spot from where he helped the accused sneak in 14.8-kg of heroin. 
• Rajesh Kumar, BSF DIG, Gurdaspur, said during preliminary questioning, it was found that he was in touch with the smugglers through social media sites. 
• “We dismissed him as per the BSF Act and handed him over to the state police for interrogation,” he said.