Advocates oppose search at accused SHO’s residence

The Moga police faced opposition of many advocates in its intensive search of an accused SHO and his two subordinates in a bribery case. The husband of the SHO is an advocate by profession.

A police team led by a DSP faced opposition from advocates on reaching the house of Arshpreet Kaur Grewal, the SHO of Kot-Ishe-Khan police station, in Moga town today. While the advocates were insisting on the police conducting a search in their presence, cops claimed the search was being carried out as per court orders and had to be videographed.

Sunil Garg, president, District Bar Council, said advocates asked cops not to harass the family members of the accused SHO.

Last week, the Moga police had registered a corruption case against the SHO and two constables for corruption and under the NDPS Act for allegedly accepting Rs 8 lakh bribe from two persons allegedly involved in an opium smuggling case and releasing them with the seized drugs.

A day after the registration of the case, the SHO levelled serious allegations against her seniors, including sexual harassment. She also alleged that she was being forced to give a clean chit to four accused in a murder case.

While the Moga police have rejected the allegations, the SHO alleged that she was implicated in a false corruption case for resisting the sexual advances of a senior police officer. The SHO named a constable as a witness to support her sexual harassment allegation. The constable was also nominated as an accused in a corruption case against the SHO.

Gursharanjit Singh Sandhu, SP (H), and chairman of Local Complaints Committee, a district-level body that handles complaints of sexual harassment, said there was no verbal or written complaint from the SHO against any officer or colleague.

In the corruption case against the Kot-Ishe-Khan SHO and constables Gurpreet Singh and Raj Pal Singh, it was alleged that they nabbed three persons and seized 5 kg of opium from them on October 1. However, the officials struck a deal with two accused for Rs 8 lakh and named only one person in the case, Amarjit Singh, showing a seizure of only 2 kg of opium.

After senior police officers of the district came to know about it, they began an investigation, said BK Singla, SP (D), Moga.

The accused cops had been placed under suspension and they were absconding, the SP said. “We are conducting searches to locate them,” said the SP.