NEW DELHI: A senior superintendent of Punjab police, who has been given several extensions, was accused of colluding with the drug runners by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 1984. The CBI had charged Swaran Singh, now on extension as SSP in Jagraon, a newly-created police district in the vicinity of Ludhiana, of accepting Rs 115,000 for allowing drugs to be smuggled in from Pakistan from across the Tam Taran border. Swaran Singh was the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Tar Taran, when he allegedly accepted the bribe.
Swaran Singh, who rose in the police hierarchy and became the blue-eyed boy of former Director General Julio Ribeiro, is known to be close to the present Director-General K.P.S. Gill also. In police circles, his proximity to Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh is also well known.
Repeated attempts by newsmen to elicit a response from the Punjab police over the CBI report failed. Joint Director of Police Publicity B.I.S Chahal, who is attached to Director General K.P.S. Gill, initially promised to check out the CBI report and what the police had done about it.
Chahal stated that because Gill was out of station, he would take about a week to respond to the query. No answer materialized even as a subsequent deadline elapsed. Chief Secretary A.S. Chatha said “This information would have to be checked out with the Punjab police.”
Swarn Singh is not only known as a favorite of the present administrative set-up, his case was even recommended at one time by Bhai Shaminder Singh, an Akali MP and staunch supporter of former Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal.
It appears that DSP Swaran Singh was hand-in glove with the smugglers operating on the Indo-Pak border. He also appears to have accepted gratification from the smugglers as a reward to facilitate their illegal activities.
A raid was conducted by officers of the CBI and over 10kg of heroin was recovered from Abdul Wahid and one Riyaz Ahmed of Barabanki.
Both persons were arrested and thoroughly interrogated. They led the CBI to house C-121, A rand Vihar, from where three kg of heroin and 237 kg of charas was recovered. Further investigations led the CBI to arrest Hira Singh in Luck now and Liaqat Ali from Barabanki.
The recovery of note-books and loose papers from the Anand Vihar house provided evidence about the activities of the gang members and how much money they had paid to Swaran Singh. It was also revealed that narcotics were being smuggled into India from Afghanistan through the Indo-Pak border. The gang members were also engaged in smuggling opium, silver and gold, said the CBI.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 2, 1992
