Jammu, September 28
Taken into custody last night for allegedly destroying evidence in the infamous Amandeep murder case, the three suspended cops, including Jammu SSP Manohar Singh, were today sent to six-day police remand by a local court here.
Manohar Singh — apparently the first SSP from Kashmir Police Service to be arrested on such charges — and five other police officers have been facing allegations of fudging evidence in the case after “receiving huge kickbacks” from a prominent businessman, Choudhary Nagar Singh.
Nagar Singh’s son Jatinder Singh, aka Raja, had shot 25-year-old Amandeep Singh outside his residence with a country-made pistol on August 29, resulting in his death the following day at a Delhi hospital.
Official sources told The Tribune that being a Dusehra holiday today, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) produced the three officers — SSP Manohar Singh, Gandhi Nagar SHO Sultan Mirza and sub-inspector Satnam Singh, also the investigation officer in the case — before the Duty Magistrate, Yahiya Firdous, at his residence this
afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the SIT raided Manohar Singh’s residence in Rehari area. A police officer said: “A SIT team, led by DSP Mamta Sharma, searched the premises of the suspended SSP. Some documents, including a few bank passbooks, were seized.”
Last night, the SIT had arrested the three officers after their prima-facie involvement was established in the case. The SIT had already arrested a ballistic expert of FSL Jammu, Sarwar Hussain Bukhari, and a constable, Raj Singh. The ballistic expert had allegedly received Rs 3.5 lakh to replace the weapon of offence.
Sources said the SIT also picked up a civilian, Kaka, a resident of Prithipur near Kunjwani who had arranged the weapon, last night. A havildar from Nehru market police post was also requisitioned by the SIT for his role in changing the weapon of offence, said sources.
Meanwhile, Choudhary Nagar Singh continued to evade police probe and has not turned up before the SIT despite summons being issued to him. Sources said his two brothers, Ujagar Singh and Rakesh Singh, had splurged cash amongst police and FSL officers to change the course of investigation.
