2 cops booked for aiding gangster

Moga, June 25

The police have booked ASI Prabhdyal Singh and head constable Gurwinder Singh for allegedly helping gangster Sukhdool Singh, alias Sukha Duneke, obtain passport and police clearance certificate on the basis of false and fabricated documents to flee to Canada in 2017. The gangster was facing seven criminal cases of heinous crimes at the time. Duneke has also been booked in the case.

An FIR under Sections 420, 467 and 468 of the IPC, and 10 (3)(B) and 10 (3)(E) of the Indian Passport Act has been registered against them at the Moga rural police station on a complaint forwarded to the SSP by the ADGP, Anti-Gangster Task Force. The cops were yet to be arrested.

Sacked, reinstated in three months

• The services of ASI Prabhdyal Singh and head constable Gurwinder Singh were terminated by the SSP after a departmental inquiry in April 2021
• The cops filed an appeal against the termination orders, which was marked to a DIG-rank officer, who reinstated them after withholding a few increments
• The ASI is currently posted at a special naka at Himmatpura village in Nihalsinghwala sub-division, while Gurwinder is serving in the Police Lines

In 2017, the ASI was posted as a passport inquiry officer, while the head constable was deputed at the rural police station here. They had been accused of clearing Duneke’s name during the passport verification process even as he was facing criminal cases. The passport was issued to Duneke on the basis of a police report and he obtained a Canadian visa before fleeing.

Since then, Duneke has allegedly been orchestrating crimes in Punjab and nearby states through his accomplices and figures on the most wanted list of criminals in the state. On March 14, Duneke allegedly conspired to kill kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal Ambia with the help of his accomplices during a match at Mallian village in Jalandhar district.

Recent findings of the Anti-Gangster Task Force of the state police suggest Duneke is aiding, funding and strengthening the Devinder Bambiha gang in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. The gang is involved in more than 60 criminal cases. Duneke has allegedly been making calls for extortion and indulging in contract killings. More than 20 cases of murder and other heinous crimes have been registered against him.