Latest news with #CIA-2
Time of India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Protest heat rises in poll-bound Ludhiana
Bathinda: With the Ludhiana West byelection looming, the city is now on the radar of protesters of various hues — a pattern observed in previous poll-bound areas like Bathinda during the SAD-BJP tenure and Patiala-Chamkaur Sahib under the Congress govt. While some employee and unemployed unions are already holding agitations, the family of a deceased village sarpanch and members of various organisations are set to descend on Ludhiana on Thursday for a candle march. Their target: Guru Harsahai MLA Fauja Singh Sarari and his personal assistant, Bachittar Singh, demanding immediate action against them for alleged abetment to suicide. The protesters plan to converge near Gate Number 1 of Punjab Agriculture University, a stone's throw from the AAP election office for the Ludhiana West byelection. They intend to hold a protest march. Jashan Bawa, 24, the sarpanch of Trinda village and an AAP member, died by suicide on May 31. His family alleges that Bawa was driven to the extreme step due to continuous harassment by MLA Sarari and his personal assistant. On June 9, villagers and various organisations staged a protest at Lakho Ke Behram police station, disrupting the Ferozepur-Fazilka highway to demand justice. Ferozepur police have formed a special investigations team (SIT), comprising two SP-level officers and one DSP, to investigate the matter and determine the MLA's alleged role in the incident. MLA Sarari has denied the allegations, attributing them to a smear campaign by certain individuals, including members of his own party. Meanwhile, a separate wave of protests is set to hit Ludhiana on June 16, organised by the Narinderdeep death action committee. They are demanding a judicial inquiry into the alleged custodial death of 34-year-old IELTS teacher Narinderdeep, who died in Bathinda on May 23. The committee is also demanding the nomination of the CIA-2 in-charge in the case, the arrest of implicated police officers, a government job for a bereaved family member, and compensation. MSID:: 121782120 413 |
Hindustan Times
05-06-2025
- Hindustan Times
Protest in Punjab's Bathinda after death in police custody
Social, trader and farmer organisations held a protest outside the Bathinda district administrative complex (DAC) complex on Thursday against the alleged custodial death of Narinderjit Singh, 35, a resident of Goniana town. An instructor at an IELTS centre in Bathinda, Narinderjit, died under suspicious circumstances on May 23. The role of Punjab Police's crime investigation agency (CIA-2) is being probed and four personnel, namely assistant sub-inspector Avtar Singh, head constable Harwinder Singh and senior constables Lakhwinder Singh and Gurpal Singh, have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The four were suspended by the Bathinda senior superintendent of police (SSP) on May 26, but they are yet to be arrested. Protesters raised slogans against the district police authorities for allegedly shielding the accused. They demanded murder charges be slapped on the entire CIA-2 staff. Police sources said Narinderjit and his friends, Gagandeep Singh and Happy Luthra, were intercepted on May 23 night by the CIA-2 team on suspicion of carrying narcotics. The three were returning from Ferozepur after an unspecified financial transaction when they were questioned by the police in Bathinda. Following a complaint by Narinderjit's father, Dr Ranjit Singh, both the friends and four CIA-2 staffers were booked at the Canal Colony police station on May 25. On May 24, Gagandeep posted a video on his Facebook page, claiming the CIA-2 staff had picked Narinderjit and he was allegedly tortured to death by the police. In his video, Gagandeep also claimed that following police pressure, he falsely informed Narinderjit's family that he had died in a road accident. The family grew suspicious about Gagandeep's statement and a case was registered against the six persons. Narinderjit's widow Nancy demanded strict and prompt action against the police for the alleged crime. The autopsy report by a board of senior doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, on May 29 found multiple injuries caused by blunt force on Narinderjit's body but none of them was stated to be fatal. The AIIMS report said that the cause of death could be ascertained after receiving the viscera report. The institute issued a statement on June 3, rubbishing claims that the doctors concluded that electric shocks caused Narinderjit's death. The chemical analysis report of the viscera from the forensic science laboratory in Kharar is awaited.
Time of India
31-05-2025
- Time of India
Held after complaint to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, 3 get bail, but get re-arrested for breach of peace
1 2 Bathinda : Tensions flared in this Punjab district after villagers from Mehraj rallied against police action following arrests linked to a compensation fraud complaint made directly to chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann. The controversy began on Thursday when Ranjodh Singh of Mehraj alleged during the CM's visit to Bathinda that villagers had been duped of ₹20,000 for each acre in exchange for promises of higher land compensation under the Bharatmala Pariyojna highway project. Acting on Mann's orders, police registered an FIR (first-information report) swiftly and arrested three men — Malkit Singh, Jagmohan Singh, and Harpal Singh — the same evening. Even though a court granted them bail on Friday, the trio was re-arrested quickly under preventive sections of the new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), sparking widespread anger among locals. Protesters announced plans to block the Bathinda-Chandigarh highway at Rampura unless the men were released. By Saturday, the subdivisional magistrate intervened, granting them bail to defuse tensions. Harinder Singh, former president of the Mehraj Nagar panchayat, said: "Instead of investigating, the police acted solely on the CM's verbal directive. Villagers from multiple areas had pooled money voluntarily through committees. The arrested had no direct role." He said locals would now seek cancellation of the FIR. Meanwhile, outrage deepened with the custodial death of Narinderdeep Singh, a 34-year-old English teacher, whose family accused Bathinda police of torture. The crime investigation agency (CIA-2) officials had on May 23 allegedly picked up this Goniana resident who taught at an IELTS centre, on suspicion of drug links. His friend, Gagandeep, uploaded a video claiming Narinderdeep Singh had died of third-degree torture. Police, however, told the family the teacher had died in a road accident. On Saturday, the family released an autopsy report from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bathinda and referenced it to claim that Narinderdeep Singh had signs of electric shocks on various parts of his body, including his genitals. Police have now registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against four officers — assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Avtar Singh, head constable Harwinder Singh, and senior constables Lakhwinder Singh and Gurpal Singh. Investigations into both incidents are in progress. MSID:: 121535045 413 |
Hindustan Times
17-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Punjab: 1.01kg heroin, ₹45.37 lakh seized: Cops dismantle 2 smuggling networks; 3 held
The Amritsar commissionerate police have busted two separate drug smuggling networks, arresting three accused and seizing 1.01kg of heroin, ₹45.37 lakh in drug money and a cash counting machine, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday. The crackdown is part of the ongoing efforts by Punjab Police to combat drug menace in the region under the state-wide anti-drug campaign Yudh Nashian Virudh. The arrested persons have been identified as Rahul Singh alias Kalu, 20, of Thathi Sohal in Tarn Taran, Gurmukh Singh, 21, of village Sudhar Rajputan and Varinderpal Singh, 32, of village Akalgarh Dhaphian, both loacted in Amritsar district. DGP Yadav said that two separate FIRs have been registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Gate Hakima police station and Verka police station, adding that investigations are on to trace the entire smuggling network and its local and international connections. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, commissioner of police (CP), Amritsar, said CIA-2 police teams apprehended Rahul Singh from a rented house in Anand Vihar and recovered 510 grams of heroin, ₹30.18 lakh in cash and a currency counting machine. 'Preliminary probe suggests that Rahul was in contact with a Germany-based smuggler, identified as Tony, and was distributing heroin locally after receiving cross-border consignments. An FIR (no 117 dated 16-05-2025) has been lodged under Sections 21-C and 25 of the NDPS Act at Gate Hakima Police Station. Tony originally hails from Punjab,' Bhullar added. In a separate operation, teams from Verka police station arrested Gurmukh Singh and Varinderpal Singh, recovering 500 grams of heroin, ₹15.19 lakh in cash and a toy drone fitted with a camera, the commissioner said. 'A locker concealed in a bed box at a residence in village Akalgarh has been discovered,it was used for hiding drug money. The drone was allegedly being used for practice purposes by the accused. An FIR (no 40 dated 14-05-2025) has been filed under Sections 25 and 29 of the NDPS Act at Verka police station,' Bhullar added.
