Faridkot SP (investigation) among three booked for accepting bribe

Three Faridkot cops, including a senior superintendent of police, have been booked for allegedly taking a bribe of ₹20 lakh to rename the “prime accused”, whom the cops had declared innocent earlier, in a 2019 murder case.

The accused have been identified as Faridkot SP (investigation) Gagnesh Kumar, deputy superintendent of police (DSP, narcotics) Sushil Kumar, sub-inspector (SI) Khem Chand Prashar, who is posted as in-charge of RTI branch of Faridkot IG office, Jaswinder Singh of Faridkot city and Sant Malkeet Das of Bir Sikhan Wala village in Faridkot.

A case has been registered under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Sections 7, 7A, 8 and 13(1)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Kotkapura Sadar police station.

The case has been registered on the complaint of Sant Gagan Dass of Kot Sukhia.

He claimed that SIT member SP Gagnesh had told him that Sant Jarnail Dass, who was initially named the prime accused in the murder of Baba Dayal Das, 55, the deputy head of Harka Das Dera at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot, had got a clean chit only after paying a bribe. “To get Jarnail arrested in the case, I was told to give ₹50 lakh, half of what Jarnail paid, to IG Faridkot range,” said the complainant.

Baba Dayal Das had been shot dead by two shooters of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang on November 7, 2019. Baba Jarnail Das, the head of another dera branch at Kapurewala village in Moga, was named the mastermind of the murder, in what the police had termed a succession war. Baba Dayal Das had been officiating as in-charge due to the poor health of the dera head, Baba Hari Das, and was seen as his successor.

However, Jarnail was declared innocent following a report filed by Moga DSP Ravinder Singh, which was accepted by the then Faridkot DIG Surjit Singh. In December 2022, Jarnail had applied for bail in the Punjab and Haryana high court, to which Moga police filed a reply, terming him innocent after investigation.

However, HC refused to accept the reply and ordered IG Faridkot range PK Yadav to probe. Following this, IG Yadav had formed a three-member SIT-led by SP Gagnesh to probe the matter.

The report by DIG Ferozepur range, who were tasked to probe the matter by Punjab director general of police following Gagan Dass, stated, “The police file prepared by the SIT led by SP Gangnesh in the murder case is lost, so action should be taken against concerned officials after probe. The probe has found SP Ganesh, DSP Sushil, SI Prashar guilty of taking ₹20 as a bribe.”