NCSC issues warrant against IAS Jaspreet; asks DGP to arrest her and present before the Commission on Jan 17

{Punjab’s school education principal secretary misses NCSC hearing}

CHANDIGARH, January 7

Taking severest action against the principal secretary of Punjab’s department of school education for not attending the hearing before the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) even after a duly served summon to do so, the court officer of the NCSC issued warrant and ordered Punjab’s Director General of Police (DGP) police to arrest the officer and ensure her presence before the court of Chairman NCSC Vijay Sampla at its headquarters in New Delhi on January 17.

It is pertinent to mention that the Punjab school education principal secretary was summoned for hearing in the matter of appointment of junior and general category principals as the education officer/principals of the year 2010.

In a communication to Punjab DGP, the court officer of NCSC clearly mentioned that a warrant has been issued against Jaspreet Talwar, Principal Secretary, Punjab government’s department of School Education, for not attending the hearing before the Commission on January 2. “NCSC, while exercising power of the Civil Court under Article 338 (8), orders you to arrest and bring her before the commission at 11 am on January 17”, the court officer directed the DGP.

NCSC further asked DGP to return the warrant on or before 17^th January at 11 am with an endorsement, certifying the day and the manner in which the orders have been executed, or the reason why it has not been executed.

Read More :- Vigilance arrests PCS officer indulged in organised crime to collect bribes from transporters

According to Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, while one gang, with four members, was operating from Delhi, the other two were working for a Jamtara based gang, a region in Bihar which has gained notoriety for online scams, and were active in Ludhiana. Gupta said these six scamsters were active in the region and with their arrest four cases have been solved so far.

Gupta said the entire operation was carried out by a special joint team of Cyber Cell and CIA, constituted and supervised by Sandeep Garg, SSP Sangrur, under DSP (D), Mohit Agarwal. The DGP said the kingpin of the Delhi gang, Mohd. Farid, resident of Chanakaya Place in West Delhi, was running a call centre, Platinum Vacations Pvt. Ltd., in Pankha Road area. His operations were kept under a watch and a raid at the centre led to the recovery of Rs 1,20,000 in cash, 7 Mobile Phones, 9 Handset Telephone (Beetal brand) and 90 sim cards.

Gupta said preliminary Investigations have revealed that the accused were targeting HDFC Bank account holders by portraying themselves as bank officials. They used to take personal bank related information from their victims on the pretext that their debit/credit card was expiring due to the ongoing Covid crises. After obtaining their card details and relevant OTPs sent on their mobile phones, the suspects used to transfer money from the accounts of the unsuspecting victims to their own fictitious Paytm accounts, said Gupta. He said the investigating team had also arrested some persons, who were being used to operate these fake Paytm accounts.

The DGP said besides Farid, his associates, Sanjay Kashyap @ Dada, Mukesh, and Upender Kumar Singh, all residents of West Delhi, have been arrested. An FIR no. 178 dated 27/08/2020 u/s 420 IPC, 66D IT Act, has been registered at PS City 1 Sangrur.

Gupta said the two Jamtara Gang members, Noor Ali and Pawan Kumar, residents of Mandi Gobind Garh and Basti Jodehwal respectively, were nabbed form Ludhiana. The duo also used to call people, impersonating themselves as bank officials, on the pretext of reverification of their KYC details. After seeking their victim’s banking details and OTP, they used to ask them to download a “QS Team viewer app” and switch off their mobile phones for a brief duration. During this period, they used to siphon off money from the accounts of their victims to the account of Sugal Damani Utility Services and then to the MobiKwik wallet of Noor Ali.

The money was later transferred to Pawan Kumar’s MobiKwik wallet. Pawan, who was running a business of recharging mobile phones, under the name of Bali Telecom, used this ill-gotten wealth for paying electricity bills of his numerous customers through his e-wallet, after offering them discounts, and accepting cash in exchange.

Police have recovered Rs. 7,65,000 in cash, 2 mobile phone and sim cards from their possession. The duo has been u/s 420, 120-B IPC, 66-D IT Act 2008 at PS Sadar Dhuri has been registered.

The DGP has meanwhile advised people to be very cautious while conducting online transactions and not fall prey to such scamsters by sharing their bank account details.

In their continued crackdown on spurious and illicit liquor business in the state, the Punjab Police on Wednesday seized 7000 litres of Lahan from Mand area of village Marrar in Harike alongside Satluj riverine area during an operation carried out with the help of drones equipped with sophisticated cameras.

A manhunt has been launched to track the seven persons named as accused in the case, DGP Dinkar Gupta disclosed. All the suspects are inhabitants of nearby villages.

The crackdown was the result of a highly sophisticated operation carried out by a team led by

SSP Tarn Taran, which also recovered seven boats from the spot. Six working stills were also found and destroyed at the site itself, said the DGP, adding that the Lahan seizure included 10 drums (10×200 = 2000 Litre) and 10 tarpaulins (10×500 = 5000 Litres).

Based on vital inputs obtained through drone cameras, Tarn Taran police officers and 125 police personnel, in close coordination with Excise Department & Forest Department of Punjab, conducted the raids in the Mand area early this morning.

Giving details, the DGP said based on specific inputs, a massive search operation was launched in marshy area with help of drones mounted with HD cameras to pinpoint the exact location of the working stills and activity of suspicious persons in the grassland. Trained operators specially requisitioned from Punjab Armed Police, Jalandhar, were pressed into service, to conduct a recce of approx. 2 sq. km area a day prior to the raid, he added. The general area has a marshy terrain and is not accessible and approachable due to tall elephant grass. Hence, drones mounted with cameras were used.

The footage of the drone cameras was shown to residents of nearby villages to identify the suspects. Daler Singh, Kulbir Singh, Laly, Manjit Singh, Fuman Singh, Mohan Singh and Balwinder Singh @ Nimma have been named as accused based on the basis of information provided by the locals.

An FIR no. 112 dated 26.08.2020 U/S 61/1/14 Excise Act PS Harike has been registered in this regard.

The Punjab Police has registered a total of five FIRs – 3 in Tarn Taran, 1 each in Amritsar Rural and Batala, in the case. DGP Dinkar Gupta said SP-level officers have, for the first time, been nominated as Investigating Officers (IOs) for these cases to ensure conviction of the offenders.

The IOs have been directed by the DGP to ensure thorough and comprehensive investigations to unravel the entire backward and forward linkages both inside and outside the State of Punjab under the supervision of the SIT. IOs shall also be responsible for filing Final Report(s) in the concerned courts under their own signatures expeditiously, said the DGP.

While DIG Ferozepur Range Ferozepur Hardial Singh Mann will head the SIT for investigating FIRs registered in Tarn Taran, IG Border Range Amritsar Surinder Pal Singh Parmar would be leading the SIT investigating the FIRs registered in Amritsar and Batala.

The other members of the Taran Taran SIT are SSP Tarn Taran, Dhruman Nimbale, along with SP (Investigation) Tarn Taran, Jagjit Singh Walia, who has been nominated as Investigating Officer.

SSP Amritsar (Rural) Dhruv Dahiya, Gaurav Toora and SP Investigation, Amritsar (Rural) (nominated as Investigating Officer for FIR no.109 dt. 30.7.20, PS Tarsikka) alongwith SSP Batala Rachpal Singh, Tejbir Singh, SP Investigation Batala (nominated Investigating Officer in FIR no. 201 dt. 31.7.2020, PS City Batala) are members of the second SIT.

The chairmen of the SITs have been authorized to seek and obtain the support and assistance of any officer/Wing/Unit of the Punjab Police, or any department of the Punjab government, or any specialized institutions/labs or experts for ensuring proper recording of evidence and making out a foolproof case to secure conviction of the guilty. The advice of the Law/Prosecuting officers would be taken at different stages of the investigation, said the DGP.

According to Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, besides two 9 mm pistols, a .30 bore,  a 32 bore and two .315 bore pistols and 20 cartridges of different calibre were recovered from them. Gupta said Buttar was wanted in over 18 criminal cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and extortion and was , a proclaimed offender.

Gupta said the police had to resort to retaliatory firing after the suspects, who were hiding in Sunny Enclave, opened fire at the OCCU’s raiding team. Buttar, who is the key accused in the killing of gangster Kuldeep Singh @ Keepa, was injured in the retaliatory firing and was admitted to hospital. No policeman sustained any injuries.

Gupta said a special operation team, led by AIG OCC Gurmeet Chauhan, raided the hide out of the suspects in Sunny Enclave after a tip off. Cornered, the suspects tried to flee and opened  fire at the police party but were overpowered soon.

A FIR has was  registered at PS Sadar, Kharar, Mohali u/s 307, 353, 186, 120B IPC and 25 Arms Act against the 5 arrested criminals.

The arrested accused have been identified as Navdeep Singh @ John Buttar s/o Tek Singh, r/o Buttar Kalan, Moga; Kulwinder @ Kinda s/o Baldev Singh r/o Buttar Kalan, Moga; Amritpal Singh s/o Jarnail Singh r/o Manupur, Samrala, Khanna; Palwinder Singh @ Pinda s/o Darshan Singh r/o Buttar Kalan, Moga and Amrik Singh @ Angrez Singh s/o Madan Lal r/o Lopon, Samrala, Khanna.

Gupta said that Buttar is also the main accused in the firing incident on the associates of Shinder Singh, Ex Sarpanch. He had also uploaded videos on Facebook claiming responsibility for the same and had warned Ex Sarpanch Shinder Singh of dire consequences.

Palwinder Singh @ Pinda is also a proclaimed offender in a murder case of gangster Kuldeep Singh @ Keepa registered at PS Badni Kalan, Moga. Amrik Singh has narcotics and liquor smuggling cases registered against him. Similarly, Amritpal Singh has previously been booked in liquor smuggling cases, the DGP added.

27,62,137 TABLETS/ CAPSULES/ INJECTIONS/ SYRUPS SEIZED ALONGWITH RS 70,03,800 IN DRUG MONEY & 5 VEHICLES

CHANDIGARH, JULY 24

In one of the biggest crackdowns on supply of pharmaceutical opioids across the country, the Punjab Police has busted an inter-state drug cartel operating in more than 50 districts of the country spread across 11 states, using the hawala channel route. Twenty persons have already been arrested with a huge cache of drugs, drug proceeds-money and five vehicles, in an operation that spanned over 8 weeks.

Disclosing the details of the case and the investigations, Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, said the drug cartel, known as the `Agra Gang’, was pushing pharmaceutical opioids (drugs) into the markets all across India by diverting drugs in huge quantities from the drug manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers and retail chemists spread out across the country. Of the 20 people arrested so far, 16 are from Punjab, 2 from UP and one each from Haryana and Delhi.

With the arrest of these gang members, a well-oiled network of drug syndicate pushing consignments to the tune of 10-12 crores of intoxicating pharmaceutical opioids in the form of tablets/capsules/injections/syrups per month into Punjab and other parts of the country has been totally smashed thousands of youth who were or could have got hooked to these drugs have been saved from drug abuse and addiction.

The gang was busted by a Barnala Police team, comprising of Dr. Pragya Jain, IPS, ASP Mehal Kalan, Sukhdev Virk SP(D), Ramninder Deol DSP (D), Insp Baljit Singh Incharge CIA, working under the supervision of SSP Barnala Sandeep Goel. The arrests of the 20 men, including one of the cartel’s kingpins, were made from various locations in Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. As many as 27,62,137 intoxicating tablets, capsules, injections and syrup bottles were seized from them, along with drug proceeds money of Rs 70,03,800, said Gupta. Interestingly, the Barnala Police had, in March 2020, similarly busted a `Mathura Gang’ and seized 44 lakh intoxicants and Rs 1.5 crore drug money/proceeds in the biggest ever such haul by Punjab Police.

The case began to unravel in May with the arrest of Balwinder Singh @ Nikka S/o Gurjant Singh and four others, alongwith 2,85,000 intoxicating tablets(Tab Clovidol) during investigation into FIR no. 72 dated 23.05.2020 u/s 21,22,25,29/61/85 NDPS Act PS Mehal Kalan. This further led to the arrest of Julfikar Ali s/o Mohammadin with 12,000 intoxicating tablets (Tab Clovidol). Julfikar’s questioning revealed the role of Harish as one of the masterminds in the influx and supply of pharmaceutical opioids into Punjab.

Following these arrests, the Barnala Police spent over two months developing the available leads, laying out elaborate surveillance plans and a trap was then laid out, with a special team being sent to West Bengal from where Harish was nabbed. It was Harish who disclosed the modus operandi of the gang and its chain of supply of Psychotropic Drugs not only in Punjab but in over 11 states of the country.

An FIR no. 344 dated13.07.2020 u/s 22,25,29/61/85 NDPS Act PS City Barnala was registered and subsequent raids in UP, Haryana Delhi, Punjab led to arrest of other gang members, alongwith seizure of a large quantity of pharmaceutical opioids, the drug proceeds-money and vehicles.

The DGP said investigations into the gang’s modus operandi so far have revealed that Harish posed as a Medical Representative to establish contact with Chemists and Pharmacists by using information like address and phone number, which he easily found over internet and social media. The contraband smugglers used a pre-identified network of couriers /transport /goods carriers, operating from major cities like Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Jaipur, Gwalior and Bhopal, and delivered consignments to various locations in several states with the help of fake/undervalued bills using local transporters. Payment and transfer of money was done using the hawala channels, and also through multiple cash transactions into bank account especially created for this purpose.

The intoxicants seized are mostly pharmaceutical opioids. Many of these pharmaceutical products have legitimate and important medical use; however these products cannot be sold without a valid medical prescription from a registered medical practitioner. The gang was diverting these intoxicants, which are medically used for pain relief and treatment for opioid dependence, for extra-medical use, which can lead to major drug overdose issues and even deaths.

The DGP said that the operation carried out by Punjab Police and the huge recovery of pharmaceutical opioids is highly significant and is a major hit to the supply of drugs in Punjab, as according to ‘Magnitude of Substance Use in India-2019’, a study commissioned by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, New Delhi, pharmaceutical opioids (which itself includes a variety of medications of the opioid group) are the second most commonly used opioids in India (0.96%), after heroin, which is the most commonly used opioid in India (1.14%). It is estimated that the harmful use/dependent use of pharmaceutical opioids constitutes about 40% of the drug problem in the State.

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