On the run in Punjab: 2,083 booked in drugs cases; 232 of them proclaimed offenders

Apart from absconders, there were 254 accused who were declared proclaimed offenders (PO) by various courts by end of December 31, 2021, out of which just 22 could be arrested.

The maximum POs were declared in the jurisdiction of Jalandhar Rural police (30), out of which only two could be arrested; followed by State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Amritsar, (24), where only one PO could be arrested; and Moga (18) where none of them could be arrested.

For instance, Harbans Singh of Issa Panj Garain village in Ferozepur district was booked in a case of recovery of 7.5 kg of heroin at Meherban police station on April 21, 2017. He was declared PO by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class, Ludhiana, on September 22, 2017. Police have also issued a look out circular for him.

The court of JMIC Ludhiana declared Lakhvir Singh aka Lakha, a resident of Khanna, as PO on December 23, 2013, in a drugs case registered against him at Ludhiana police station division number 2 on December 1, 2012, after 52 kg of poppy husk was recovered from him.

Ludhiana resident Manoj Kumar was declared a PO on May 21, 2011, in a case registered against him at Ludhiana police station division number 3 on January 22, 2011, after 155 kg of poppy husk was recovered from him.

Simranjit Singh Sandhu, a resident of Amritsar who is in Italy, is wanted in as many as four drugs cases, three registered in Punjab and one in Gujarat. His name figured in cases of recovery of nearly 9 kg of heroin (case registered at STF police station in Mohali on January 29, 2020); recovery of around 188 kg of heroin from Amritsar (case registered at STF PS Mohali on January 31, 2020); and recovery of nearly 6 kg of heroin (case registered at STF PS Mohali on November 6, 2020).

His name first came up in a drugs case in Gujarat following an investigation conducted by ATS Gujarat. As per the STF, he was the mastermind behind the consignment of 188 kg of heroin recovered from Amritsar. A note by the STF, accessed by The Indian Express, which is based on “inputs received from secret sources, says that Sandhu, along with Tanveer Singh Bedi and others, is running an international gang indulging in drug trafficking. As per the STF, Sandhu has been arrested in Italy in connection with the case registered by the ATS Gujarat and is believed to be in a jail in Italy even as his extradition proposal is in process in connection with the FIRs registered against him in Punjab in January 2020.

While there are large number of POs and absconders hailing from Punjab, a number of absconders wanted by Punjab Police belong to other states also.

For instance, Jafar Iqbal, son of Surbulard Khan, a resident of village Nagla in Uri in Baramula district of Jammu and Kashmir, is absconding since March 28, 1998, in an NDPS case registered against him at GRP police station in Pathankot on July 28, 1993, after 10 kg of charas was allegedly recovered from him, the data accessed by The Indian Express reveals.

As per the official documents accessed by The Indian Express, Punjab Police arrested 150 out of 2,083 absconders between January 1 and April 30 this year. A senior Punjab Police officer said the highest number of absconders was in cases registered by GRP because the accused were caught peddling the drug contraband while travelling in trains.

Abdul Kabir, son of Ali Mohd, a resident of village Mankwala Ratna in Vijaywara police station in Pehalgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, is wanted since July 13, 1999, in a case registered against him at GRP station Pathankot on February 10, 1995, under NDPS Act where he was allegedly caught with 4.55 kg of charas.

At least 11 other accused booked in NDPS cases with recoveries of charas and ganja between 2010 and 2021 (10 hailing from Bihar and one from Haryana) are wanted by the GRP Punjab.

Punjab Anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) chief Harpreet Singh Sidhu, when contacted by The Indian Express, said, “As per instructions by Punjab Director General of Police, a special drive has been launched by all districts (Senior Superintendents of Police/Commissioners of Police) to arrest the proclaimed offenders and absconders in NDPS cases.” Sidhu added, “Detailed instructions have been issued for this purpose.”

In the last week of May this year, the Supreme Court – while noting that there were over 2,000 NDPS offenders/accused – had directed the Punjab government to put in place a mechanism to ensure that absconding accused were brought to book within a reasonable time frame and in case of non-compliance, departmental action should be initiated against the police official concerned.

Terming it a “serious matter” and underlining that with the change of government, police have not been changed, the Supreme Court bench of Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice J B Pardiwala had come down heavily on Punjab Advocate General Anmol Rattan Singh Sidhu saying that the number of NDPS accused absconding in Punjab was “staggering”.

The Supreme Court suo motu has been monitoring the action being taken by Punjab Police in respect of absconding accused in NDPS cases. AG Sidhu on May 17 had assured the apex court that all the “essential steps would be taken to bring to book the absconding offenders/accused persons within a reasonable time”. In case of failure, Sidhu told the court that the police officers “shall be proceeded with departmentally for the acts of commission and omission”.

While dismissing an accused’s anticipatory bail application in August 2019, the court had directed the local police to file a compliance report. Since then, the court has taken suo motu note of the action being taken against absconding accused under NDPS Act in Punjab in three cases before it. In September 2020, the court had dismissed anticipatory bail applications of two other accused. One of the accused among them was arrested only a day after dismissal of his application by the apex court.

In one of the cases from Ludhiana where the accused (Paramjit Singh) was seeking anticipatory bail, 2 kg of heroin, Rs 3,12,000/- and a motorcycle were recovered from co-accused Lal Singh @ Gagan and Paramjit Singh @ Ajay. From another accused, arrested in March 2020, 320 grams of intoxicant powder was recovered.

The matter finally got revived in 2021 after having remained unheard due to Covid-19 pandemic. In July 2021, the Supreme Court asked the state home secretary to file a status report about the latest position with regard to absconding accused under NDPS Act in the state. In October 2021, the apex court took a serious view saying that it hopes “some urgency and seriousness would prevail on the high officials dealing with the subject matter” in Punjab. In March 2022, the apex court deferred the proceedings in the matter due to state elections and hoped that “substantial progress” would be made by the state police.

A senior Punjab Police officer said the number of POs and absconders has seen a massive rise over the years.

“Except at a few places, no monthly review meetings are held at SSP level, DSP level and SHO level. There should also be a reward system for officials performing the given tasks and punishment for the non-performers. Professionalism in the department has taken a beating in the last 10-15 years.”