Dismissed AIG Raj Jit Singh evades arrest despite Punjab VB, STF raids

Tribune News Service

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, November 8

Nineteen days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court cancelled the bail plea of dismissed AIG Raj Jit Singh, the Vigilance Bureau (VB) as well as the Special Task Force (STF) have failed to arrest him.

The Vigilance had registered a case of corruption against the ex-AIG in May for allegedly owning assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The STF had also booked Raj Jit for allegedly extorting money from people by falsely booking them in case of drugs smuggling and also for helping drugs smugglers.

Gave cops the slip on Oct 20

• Raj Jit had appeared before the Special Task Force on October 20 on court orders to join the probe
• The same day, the Punjab and Haryana High Court cancelled his bail application in the corruption case
• But before the Vigilance Bureau could arrest him, Raj Jit slipped out of the Special Task Force office

Raj Jit had appeared before the Special Task Force on October 20 on court orders to join the probe. The same day, the High Court cancelled his bail application in the corruption case. But before the Vigilance could arrest him, Raj Jit slipped out of the STF office.

Since then he went underground and is wanted by the VB and the STF. However, despite two big wings of the Punjab Police after him, Raj Jit has managed to evade arrest. Officials claimed a number of raids had been conducted to nab him but he remained untraced.

The VB has not been able to question Raj Jit ever since the case was registered against him. The bureau, in an affidavit to the High Court, claimed Raj Jit and his family made transactions of Rs 13 crore in the last 10 years which were beyond his known sources of income.

The case of Raj Jit is highly sensitive for the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government. It had won elections on a promise to combat drugs, especially catching big fish, and breaking the police-drug smugglers nexus. Raj Jit is also accused of helping drug-smuggling tainted cop Inderjit Singh in departmental inquiries and giving him promotions.

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