Photo for representational purpose only. - File photo
Mohali, April 23
Six years after the special task force (STF) from Punjab Police arrested a former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) along with two aides with 15 kg of opium, a .32-bore pistol, and 18 cartridges, a court awarded 12 years in jail to the trio as well as Rs 1.5 lakh fine each.
The court of Harsimranjit Singh convicted former DSP Haqiqat Rai; Swaran Singh, a resident of Naraingarh; and Mahant Bikram Nath of Badoshi Kalan village in Fatehgarh Sahib in a 2018 NDPS Act case, as about 15kg of opium was recovered from their possession.
In March 2018, a team headed by Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajinder Singh Sohal intercepted a car near Taana village in Fatehgarh Sahib and nabbed the former DSP along with his associates, including Swaran Singh and Bikram Nath, with the contraband and arms. The police said Bikram was the then-head of Dera Baba Jaswant Nath.
The STF recovered opium, which was concealed under the seat of the car seat, and the weapon with 18 live cartridges from Rai.
Police officials said the accused had brought the contraband from Jharkhand.
Rai, who then lived in Sirhind, retired from the Internal Vigilance Department of the Punjab Police
in 2015.
The STF probe revealed that Nath succeeded Jaswant Nath as the dera head after his death in 2006. The police said that during questioning, Nath told them that he joined the dera when he was 14, adding that he used to arrange drugs for followers there.
Police officials said Swaran Singh and Rai were frequent visitors to the dera, adding that the trio was addicted to drugs.
The STF probe revealed that Nath was involved in drug peddling with Swaran for a long time, and the former DSP joined them later. Police officials said the trio used to bring drugs from Jharkhand at a cheaper price and supply them to people at the dera and other consumers at higher rates.
A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against them.
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