PESCO employee held while sneaking intoxicant tablets into Amritsar Central Jail
The authorities concerned have busted a network of sneaking intoxicants and prohibited material into the Amritsar Central Jail with the arrest of a PESCO (Punjab Ex-servicemen Corporation) employee and recovery of over 900 intoxicant tablets, besides two “bidi” bundles from his possession.
He was identified as Navjot Singh. He works as a plumber by profession. He had hidden tablets and “bidis” in a special cavity of the thick sole of his slippers. As the news of his arrest spread, his accomplice, another PESCO employee identified as Jagtar Singh, also a plumber, fled from the jail complex.
The Islamabad police have registered an FIR under the NDPS Act and the Prisons Act against two PESCO employees, besides three prison inmates identified as Parwinder Singh, alias Vicky, Sharanbir Singh and Heera Singh in this regard. From Parwinder Singh, the jail authorities made another seizure of 129gm of narcotic powder.
Hemant Sharma, Superintendent, Amritsar Central Jail, said they received a tip-off regarding the involvement of Navjot Singh in smuggling of forbidden material inside the high security jail complex.
“We observed his movements for two days. He used to change slippers after getting inside jail. He wrapped forbidden material in a carbon paper to avoid getting caught in the scan of X-ray machines,” he said.
During preliminary investigation, it was found that all five suspects were part of the smuggling racket. The jail authorities seized another 129gm of narcotic powder from Parwinder Singh.
The authorities also confiscated 14 mobile phones along with chargers, 30 bundles of “bidis’ and 17 packets of tobacco which were thrown from outside at different spots on the jail premises. A separate complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
