Faridkot dera deputy head murder: Punjab home dept gives nod to prosecute SP, DSP in ₹20-lakh graft case

The Punjab home department has sanctioned the prosecution of superintendent of police (SP) Gagnesh Kumar and deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Sushil Kumar in a ₹20 lakh bribery case. The officers allegedly accepted the bribe to “re-nominate a prime accused” in the murder of Harka Das Dera deputy head Dayal Das, who was shot dead at Kot Sukhia village in Faridkot on November 7, 2019.

The prosecution has been sanctioned under Section 197 (prior government sanction to prosecute public servants for offences committed while performing their duties) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), against SP Gagnesh Kumar and DSP Sushil Kumar. This follows an FIR registered at the Kotkapura Sadar police station in June 2023 under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Ferozepur vigilance bureau senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh said: “We have received the sanction to prosecute SP Gagnesh Kumar and DSP Sushil Kumar in an alleged corruption case. We will soon submit a document in the court as part of supplementary chargesheet.”

Jarnail Das, who was head of another dera’s branch in Moga, was named as a prime accused in the murder case. The police had linked the murder to a succession war in the 80-year-old dera that has 12 branches in Punjab and Uttarakhand. The probe had found that Jarnail Das hatched the conspiracy to kill Dayal Das, but Punjab Police did not arrest him and later gave him a clean chit. Jarnail Das died in September 2023 after his health deteriorated.

During the investigation, the police landed in trouble after a DSP-rank officer gave a clean chit to Jarnail Das in 2021 and a DIG-rank officer supported this finding.

There were allegations of taking ₹1 crore bribe from Jarnail to give him a clean chit.

Gagan Das, who is officiating in-charge of the dera since the death of Hari Das in May 2020, moved Punjab and Haryana high court alleging that cops “wrongly” declared prime accused Jarnail Das as innocent.

A three-member SIT led by Ferozepur range deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Ranjit Singh probed the allegations and found that police officers took bribes. The team then submitted the report to the Bureau of Investigation (BoI) following which the accused were booked.

In June last year, then Faridkot SP (investigation) Gagnesh Kumar, (DSP, narcotics) Sushil Kumar, sub-inspector (SI) Khem Chand Prashar, who was 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 booked for allegedly taking ₹20 lakh bribe to “re-nominate the accused” in the murder case.

On July 19, 2023, the vigilance bureau arrested DSP Sushil Kumar in the bribery case. Later in August, Prashar and Malkiat surrendered. The VB submitted a chargesheet against DSP Sushil Kumar in the case in September.

On March 5, 2024, SP Gagnesh Kumar and his aide Jaswinder Singh surrendered before the VB in Ferozepur. The move came after Punjab and Haryana high court dismissed the SP’s anticipatory bail application observing that his custodial interrogation was required to “unearth the entire modus operandi”.

In March VB had also submitted an application in Faridkot court seeking permission to conduct a polygraph test of SP Gagnesh Kumar, DSP Sushil Kumar and SI Prashar. However, the application is still pending before the court.

All the accused in the case are out on bail.