Accused held in 328 drug cases acquitted in past 8 years in Tarn Taran

Hindustan Times: Tarn Taran: Wednesday, December 06, 2017.

The accused persons, arrested in around 328 cases registered under of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the district police during eight years (2007 to 2015), were acquitted either in court or police investigation, reveals the information fetched by an Amritsar-based activist Sarabjit Singh Verka under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 from the Tarn Taran police.

However, no accused, who were arrested under the same Act in 2016 and 2017, was absolved.

The RTI reply reads that out of the total cases registered in 2015 under the NDPS Act, the accused in only four cases were absolved.

In 2012 only, an assembly election year in the state, the accused in 95 cases, who were held guilty by the police, were exonerated either in courts or in police investigation, reads the report.  

As per the RTI report, there are 14 police stations in the district. Out of a total 328 cases in which the accused were acquitted, 46 were registered by the Goindwal Sahib police, 40 by the Tarn Taran (City) police, 38 by the Sarhali police, 37 by the Khalra police, 32 by the Bhikhiwind police, 28 by the Chabhal police, 22 by Tarn Taran (Sadar), 22 by Patti police, 15 by Vaironwal police, 12 by Khemkaran police, 12 by Sarai-Amanat Khan police, 9 by the Harike police and seven each by the Valtoha and Chabal police.

Sarabjit Singh Verka, advocate of the Punjab Human Rights Organisation, said, “Due to the incomplete investigation of the police against the accused arrested under the NDPS Act, the accused have been acquitted.”

He said, “There were some high profile cases of heroin seizure, including a case of recovery of 19 packets of heroin by the then Tarn Taran CIA inspector Inderjeet Singh, who himself is now in the police net; but due to the incomplete investigation of the police, the accused in the cases had been acquitted, and they are again doing the same business fearlessly.”

Advocate Verka said, “There are some cases of recovery under the Act after which the police officers concerned got promotions, but their promotion should be reverted, as the accused in such cases have been acquitted.”

Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Tarn Taran, Darshan Singh Mann, said, “Police don’t use laxity in matters related to the NDPS Act because gazetted rank police officers are responsible for such inquiries and actions. Sometimes, in the absence of good material, human evidence, the criminals are making use of such loopholes.”