Punjab DIG Inderbir Singh named in FIR for taking bribe from drug dealer
DIG Inderbir was also named in an FIR on September 22, 2022, for allegedly taking bribe through junior police officers to not implicate an Assistant Sub Inspector in a case of drug smuggling.
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This is not the first FIR against Singh, an IPS officer currently posted as DIG, PAP, Jalandhar Cantt. He was serving as DIG, Ferozepur, at the time of the alleged incident. (File Photo) The Punjab Vigilance Bureau has named Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Inderbir Singh in an FIR for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 10 lakh for not implicating an alleged drug supplier in a case under the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act.
“Our probe is going on. His polygraph test is due in the court next month. We will then decide on his arrest,” said SSP (Vigilance), Amritsar, Varinder Singh Mann, who is investigating the case.
When contacted, Inderbir Singh said: “I have no intimation about being named in any case. As far as the polygraph test is concerned, the matter is sub-judice and the court will decide. I have submitted my detailed reply in court. I don’t think there is any evidence against me. I have joined the investigation many times. I don’t want to comment on the ongoing investigation.”
This is not the first FIR against Inderbir Singh, who is currently posted as DIG, Punjab Armed Police, Jalandhar Cantonment. He was serving as DIG, Ferozepur, at the time of the alleged incident.
On September 2, 2022, Inderbir Singh was also named in an FIR for allegedly taking a bribe to not implicate an Assistant Sub-Inspector in a drug smuggling case. In both the FIRs, the DIG is a co-accused with suspended DSP Lakhbir Singh, who spent about three months in jail in these cases before being released on bail.
While applying for bail, Lakhbir Singh had told the court that the DIG had not joined the investigation.
“Lakhbir Singh spent three months in jail. His bail order has nothing to do with the investigation against DIG Inderbir Singh,” said SSP Mann.
The latest case in which Inderbir Singh’s name was included on June 5 this year, dates back to June 30, 2022, when an alleged drug supplier named Pishora Singh was apprehended near a petrol pump in Tarn Taran. The police allegedly recovered 250 grams of opium and Rs 1 lakh from Pishora Singh.
On July 6, 2022, the Punjab Police arrested Lakhbir Singh for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 10 lakh from Pishora Singh for not naming him in an FIR registered under the NDPS Act at Bhikhiwind police station in Tarn Taran district.
According to documents seen by The Indian Express, on June 5 this year, DIG Inderbir Singh was named in the same case under IPC Sections 213 (taking gift etc to screen an offender), 214 (offering gift or restoration of property in consideration of screening offender), 120B (criminal conspiracy), as well as various sections of the NDPS Act and Prevention of Corruption Act, at the Bhikhiwind police station.
The earlier FIR against Inderbir Singh was registered on September 2, 2022, under IPC Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 389 (putting person in fear of accusation of offence, in order to commit extortion), 120B (criminal conspiracy) at the Patti city police station in Tarn Taran district.
This FIR was initially registered on July 15, 2022, against Inspector Barjinder Singh, who was Inderbir Singh’s reader when he was posted as DIG, Ferozepur range. Barjinder Singh and Lakhbir Singh were booked for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 23 lakh from ASI Baljinder Singh for not implicating him in a drug smuggling case, allegedly on behalf of Inderbir Singh.
The Vigilance Bureau is learnt to have questioned Inderbir Singh in both cases but has not issued any public statement so far.
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