Moga Police face lawyers’ resistance during house search in corruption case against woman SHO

Moga police team faced stiff resistance from several advocates when it went to conduct raid on the houses of accused SHO and his two subordinates in a bribery case.

The husband of this accused SHO is an advocate by profession. Led by a DSP, when a team of police reached SHO’s house for searching in Moga town, the advocates opposed the move. While the advocates were insisting the police conduct search in their presence, the police claimed it was being carried out as per court orders and under a camera.

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

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

A day after registration of this case, the accused SHO Arshpreet Kaur Grewal had come forward with serious allegations against her senior police officers. These allegations include sexual harassment and that she was being forced to give clean chit to four accused in a murder case.

While the Moga police have rejected the allegations, the SHO alleged she was entangled in a false corruption case for resisting the sexual advances of a senior police officer. In her sexual harassment allegations, SHO has referred name of a constable as witness. This constable was also nominated as an accused in a corruption case against the SHO.

Gursharanjit Singh Sandhu, SP (H) in Moga police and chairman of Local Complaints Committee, a district-level body that handles complaints of sexual harassment, set aside the allegations of the SHO, saying there was never any verbal or written complaint by the SHO against any officer or colleague.

In the corruption case against Kot-Ishe-Khan police station SHO Arshpreet Kaur and two constables, Gurpreet Singh and Raj Pal Singh, it has been alleged that they nabbed three persons and seized 5 kg opium from them on October 1.

However, the officials struck a deal with two accused, under which Rs 8 lakh was given as bribe to the officials, who nominated one of the miscreants, Amarjit Singh, in the case, showing the seizure of only 2 kg of opium.

After the senior police officers of the district received information about the same, they began an investigation, said BK Singla, SP (D), Moga.

However, all accused were absconding, the SP said. The accused police officials have been placed under suspension, he added.