Register disproportionate assets case against dismissed Punjab police officer Raj Jit Singh, Vigilance Bureau told

“SIT has suggested an enquiry into the disproportionate assets of Raj Jit Singh. Therefore, copies of reports of SIT are being sent to you for registration of case of accumulation of disproportionate assets against Raj Jit Singh under section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,” the home department’s correspondence to the Vigilance Bureau reads. “The reports of the SIT suggest that innocent persons were falsely implicated for extorting money from them. Therefore, you are asked to register an FIR u/s 7, 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act and Section 59 of NDPS [Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances] Act and other relevant provisions of law against Raj Jit Singh and Inderjit Singh (dismissed ORP inspector). Investigation in this case should be completed within a month,” it adds.

Three sealed cover reports regarding the role of police officials in the drug trade in the state were opened by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on March 28. These reports were submitted in 2018 by the then DGP S Chattopadhayaya-led SIT, formed by the high court and had been lying in court since then.

The SIT formed in 2017 had the mandate to probe allegations of complicity of Raj Jit Singh, the then senior superintendent of police, Moga, in respect of his alleged association with dismissed ORP (own rank and pay) inspector Inderjit Singh. Inderjit Singh was dismissed from service following the recovery of drugs by a special task force (STF) in 2017.

Referring to the FIR registered against Inderjit under various sections of the NDPS Act and the Indian Penal Code at STF police station in Mohali on June 12, 2017, a correspondence to the Punjab DGP by the home department on Monday also directed that Raj Jit’s name be included in the said FIR. Following this, the STF has issued a lookout circular against Raj Jit.

The SIT, in its report, recommended an inquiry to investigate the “sudden rise” of Raj Jit and “his family members’ assets, for the period 2013 onwards”. As per the SIT report, Raj Jit and his family acquired six properties in Mohali and Hoshiarpur between January 3, 2013, and October 27, 2017.

The SIT report, while citing the evidence collected during the investigation, noted, “Huge amounts were mobilised as loans/gifts by Raj Jit Singh during the relevant period. Although intimations have been given by Raj Jit Singh to his department in respect of these loans/gifts, the financial capacity of those individuals who had given such loans/gifts is required to be investigated.”