Bhola drug racket: HC asks SIT to complete probe review by July 31
The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the special investigation team (SIT) constituted to review investigations into the Jagdish Bhola drug racket to complete its work by July 31.
The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the special investigation team (SIT) constituted to review investigations into the Jagdish Bhola drug racket to complete its work by July 31.
The review was to be completed by December 31, 2015.
On October 10 last year, the high court appointed a supervisory panel comprising three officers of the inspector general of police rank, including Ishwar Singh, G Nageshwar Rao and V Neerja, to review the probe. The investigations focussed on alleged kingpin Jagdish Bhola and his associates.
“The SIT is permitted to do the needful on or before July 31. The cases where the SIT is said to have completed its exercise may also be re-looked, if need be, such as the case of Tarsem Singh, the accused who is said to have not been examined so far,” the high court bench of justice Surya Kant and justice PB Bajanthri said giving the SIT more time after it filed an application in this regard.
In October 2015, the SIT was asked to complete the work by December 31 and was given the liberty to file supplementary reports before lower courts, wherever it found necessary. The SIT was asked to review the investigations as the high court had found “lack of commitment” by some police officials in some cases and “loopholes and gaps into the probe”.
In separate petition involving the same case, the SIT is yet to submit a report sought by high court on May 12, wherein it was told to list out efforts made by the investigating officers to identify the role of one of the accused Satpreet Singh Satta and the efforts made to nab him. The court had observed that there appeared to be a “concerted effort” to “protect and then allow” Satta to go scot free. It was also asked to clarify whether the investigating agency had found any incriminating material against NRI Parminder Singh Pindi and if so, whether he was named as an accused in any of the cases.
The SIT was asked to list out efforts to take Pindi into custodial interrogation with the “same zeal” the investigating agency had exhibited while arresting others accused, including Jagjit Singh Chahal, Sukhraj Singh Kang, Maninder Singh Aulakh, etc. The report was to be submitted in the court by May 30.