Nearly a year after she was booked for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to “let off drug peddlers”, Punjab Police Inspector Arshpreet Kaur Grewal, then posted as the Station House Officer (SHO) at the Kot Ise Khan police station, surrendered before a local Moga court on Tuesday. Moga DSP (City) Gurpreet Singh said, “Grewal surrendered before Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Inder Kaur Sandhu and was sent in a 14-day judicial remand. We will bring her on a production warrant for interrogation in the bribery case registered against her.” In October last year, Grewal and two constables were booked for allegedly releasing two drug peddlers arrested with 3 kg of opium after “accepting a bribe of Rs 5 lakh”, according to an FIR registered in this connection. The FIR stated that on October 1, 2024, Grewal and her team apprehended one Amarjit Singh from Datewala Road and seized 3 kg of opium from his possession in the presence of Amarjit's brother Manpreet and son Gurpreet. However, according to the FIR, Grewal and the constables allegedly struck a deal of Rs 8 lakh through a private person. “After accepting Rs 5 lakh in bribe, the inspector let off Manpreet and Gurpreet and the drug peddling case was registered only against Amarjit,” the FIR stated, adding: “The recovery was shown of 2 kg of opium, instead of 3 kg.” Grewal and two constables were booked under sections 7 (offence relating to public servant being bribed) and 13 (2) (criminal misconduct) of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA); and sections 18 (punishment for contravention in relation to opium poppy and opium) and 59 (failure of officer in duty or his connivance at the contravention of the provisions) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. However, Grewal fled after the FIR was registered, and two days later, she put out a detailed post on her Facebook account, levelling serious allegations, including sexual harassment, against some of the senior police officers in Moga. She also alleged that she was “forced to discharge an accused in a murder case”, and “when I refused, I was implicated in the false graft case”. On the run for over a year, a court declared Grewal a proclaimed offender and ordered police to book her after she failed to appear for a hearing in July.
