Kotkapura ASI suspended hours after speaker raises ‘corruption’ issue

Hours after Punjab Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan accused ASI Bohar Singh, posted in Kotkapura police station, of taking a bribe from a gangster, Faridkot senior superintendent of police (SSP) Pragya Jain said the cop has been suspended and a departmental inquiry initiated against him.

Last month, the Faridkot police had booked the ASI under the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly accepting ₹1.5 lakh as bribe from an accused in a sexual harassment case. Anantdeep Singh, alias Roma, of Kotkapura had said that the Kotkapura police had registered the case of sexual harassment and illegal confinement against him in September 2015. In November 2015, the police filed a cancellation report but the court declined to accept that.

Roma alleged that ASI Bohar Singh assured him of getting the cancellation report admitted in the court with the help of senior police officers in return of ₹1.5 lakh. He alleged that after getting ₹1.5 lakh, Bohar Singh demanded ₹50,000 more from him.

Roma, said to be a close aide of absconding gangster Ranjit Singh Dupla, is facing several cases, including one registered in October 2014 related to inter-state smuggling of illegal foreign-made weapons and supplying the same to gangsters and civilians by forging sale bills. Along with Roma, Dupla and others were also booked in that case. “These weapons were being used by gangsters and other criminals for carrying out snatching, dacoities, extortion and other crimes,” the police claimed.

Controversy involving Sandhwan’s brother

On June 11 this year, ASI Bohar Singh had registered an entry in the general diary of the Faridkot Sadar police station against Birinder Singh Sandhwan, brother of the assembly speaker. He had alleged that Birinder had abused and humiliated him on a phone call and also threatened to get him transferred to a far-flung area. An audio recording purportedly of Birinder allegedly abusing Bohar Singh on call had gone viral on social media.