Year ends on a high note for the men in khaki

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 24

The year 2014 seems to be ending on a high note for the Jalandhar rural police as it busted a major terror module of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) with the arrest of four wanted terrorists and 10 of their accomplices. The police also made major recoveries of weapons.
Besides, the rural police registered 1,124 cases of drug peddling under the NDPS Act during the year and arrested 1,430 peddlers including major inter-state drug smugglers. Eight major gangs of robbers and thieves were also busted and 43 members of the gang were apprehended with drugs being recovered in a large quantity.
HPS Khakh, Superintendent of Police (Detective), who played a proactive role in busting major drug networks and inter-state gangs, said the rural police has zero tolerance against drug trade and other illegal or anti-national activities. "The kingpin of the gang will soon be behind the bars," Khakh added.
Dismissing four cops for allegedly taking bribe from peddlers for letting them free has, however, brought disgrace for the rural police. Though the drug supply network has been broken, availability of drugs in some pockets of the district is still a challenge for the police.

Jalandhar Rural Police
Police registered 1,124 cases under the NDPS Act and arrested 1,430 drug peddlers. It recovered 3.160 grams of opium, 11,504 kg of poppy husk, 10 kg of charas, over 11 kg of heroin, 90 kg of drug powder and 4,100 capsules from them.

Six cops dismissed for taking bribe
On July 25, the rural police had dismissed four cops from service for allegedly taking Rs 70,000 from a drug peddler for letting him free. All four were new recruits in the Punjab Police, namely, Rakesh, Navdeep, Gurwinder and Harjap. Rakesh was employed at the Kartarpur police station, while the other three were deployed at the Lambra police station. Similarly, on December 13, the rural police suspended two cops on the charge of extorting money from a youth in Nakodar by implicating him in a case of immoral trafficking.

Help Desk a boon for the public
The initiative of the Punjab Police to form "Help Desks" at the Jalandhar rural police stations is helping the people, as their complaints are being addressed in a short period of time. Notably, the Jalandhar rural police is the only police district in Punjab which initiated the service of "Help Desks" at the police station level with the aim of preventing the public from knocking at the doors of senior police officials.

Jalandhar City Police
The year 2014 also proved to be a happening year for the Jalandhar Police Commissionerate. The police force rose above politics and didn't show mercy on drug peddlers enjoying proximity to political figures. The city police solved two high profile kidnapping cases in a professional manner and even extradited an accused in the death case of a foreign student, Yannick, a resident of Burundi, from Australia.
Police Commissioner Yurinder Singh Hayer and DCP Naveen Singla said efforts would continue to thwart the attempts of drug peddlers and other criminals. Investigations into the unsolved criminal cases would also be
speeded up.

Police nab 480 peddlers, 210 snatchers
The city police has nabbed 480 peddlers and recovered 6 kg opium, 4,000 kg of poppy husk, 11.5 kg of charas, 52 kg of ganja, 20 kg drug powder and 1.5 kg of heroin from them. The arrest of 210 snatchers in a year also helped the residents lead a safe life.

BJP, police at loggerheads over arrest of party worker
The BJP and the then Police Commissioner Kunwar Vijay Pratap were at loggerheads after the Rama Mandi police arrested a BJP worker, Harpal Mintu, for allegedly taking bribe to secure the release of a man arrested in a theft case. The BJP accused the police of implicating Mintu in the case and also shielding drug peddlers. Mintu was booked by the Rama Mandi police under section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

SAD leader pulls up SHO
High drama was witnessed at the police station division No. 4 on the night of March 9 when Gurcharan Singh Channi, president, District Planning Committee, allegedly rebuked SHO Sumit Sood for impounding the motorcycle of his employee. He also had heated arguments with ADCP Naresh Dogra over the issue.

SI caught with lover, roughed up by residents
The city police courted controversy when sub-inspector Bhupinder Singh of New Baradari police station was caught with a woman with whom he allegedly had illicit relations at her residence in Ghas Mandi in the last week of November.

Coloniser booked for fraud
Leading colonisers of the city, the father-son duo of Anil Chopra and Rajan Chopra, were booked by the city police in a case of cheating and forgery. He had allegedly built 24 of the 74 flats in the name of 'Silver Oak Apartments' on Nakodar road on the land owned by Punjab Financial Corporation (PFC). A case under sections 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC was registered at Bhargav Camp police station last week. Chopra also heads the St. Soldier Group of Institutions.

Drunk ETO injures five on road
An Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) BS Sidhu injured five persons after hitting them with his speeding car allegedly in an inebriated condition on December 13. The incident had caused quite a commotion in the city.

Woman ASI nabbed red-handed accepting bribe

Vigilance sleuths nabbed a woman Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Kamaljit Kaur red-handed for accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 at Bhargav Camp police station on November 28.

SP's son flees in Yannick case, extradited from Oz
City police got Jaskaran Singh alias Jassa extradited from Australia, 29 months after the attack on a Burundi national Yannick Nihangaza. Rommy Uppal, an SP's son, jumped parole in March this year and the city police has failed to arrest him till date.

ATM theft cases lying unsolved
Several cases of ATM theft have been lying unsolved with the city police. On January 12, miscreants made an attempt to break open a PNB ATM with a gas-cutter. On March 6, unknown miscreants made a vain attempt to break open the ATM of the ICICI Bank on Mithapur Road. On June 18, miscreants also broke open an ATM of the Union Bank of India.

Bhana gang a mystery for police
The Bhana gang, wanted in triple murder case, is still a mystery for the city police. On February 26 this year, the Bhana gang had shot dead two youths, Simran and Deepansh. The gang had shot dead the two as they were assisting eye-witness Shami Kumar whose son Prince was gunned down by the gang two years ago.

ED tightens noose around leaders, singers
The Enforcement Directorate grilled SAD MLA Avinash Chandar, SAD MLA Sarwan Singh Phillaur, hotelier Kamaljit Singh Hayer, Congress MP Chaudhary Santokh Singh, Bathinda Zonal IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal and also issued summons to SAD Minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia for alleged money laundering. Similarly, singers Gippy Grewal, Jazzy B, Miss Pooja and Diljit Dosanj were also being grilled in hawala rackets.

KLF terror module busted
The Jalandhar rural police arrested Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo from the Delhi airport after he was extradited from Thailand on November 7. Three of his aides were also arrested by the rural police from Jammu on August 4, namely, Harpreet Singh alias Harmeet alias Pintu of Simbal Camp, Karanjit Singh alias Pamma of Basti Gobind Puri and Sarwan Singh Shabba of Narri after a police team went there, hot on their trail. Three pistols of .30 bore, .32 bore, 9MM with 8 cartridges, one J&K registered bike, 7 mobile phones, 14 SIM cards and 3 memory cards were also recovered from them. Mintoo was interrogated by the rural police for 22 days and also by the Central intelligence agencies.

High-profile kidnapping cases solved
Led by DCP Naveen Singla, police solved two high-profile kidnapping cases within a few days. On October 12, Gopi, the seven-year-old son of a realtor, was kidnapped from outside his house. Police recovered the boy after 10 days of operation in Aligarh (UP) along with two accused. Similarly, 4.5 year-old Diya, daughter of Major Sukhjit Singh, was abducted from outside her house on February 24 and was found bundled inside a plastic gunny bag in New Defence Colony located near her house. The same day, the police arrested one Satveer Singh and his wife Meghna.