Sarpanch Amrinder Singh Soni had alleged that he had called the inspector on Sunday night to inform him about illegal mining in the village, but he instead threatened him with dire consequences. (Express File Photo/For representational purpose)
A day after an audio clip of a purported conversation between sarpanch of village Boothgarh in Ludhiana and ex-SHO Meharban police station, Inspector Jarnail Singh, went viral, Ludhiana police commissioner on Wednesday dismissed the inspector from service under the Section 7 of the Police Act, 1861. Sarpanch Amrinder Singh Soni had alleged that he had called the inspector on Sunday night to inform him about illegal mining in the village, but he instead threatened him with dire consequences. He also allegedly asked sarpanch to mind his own business and not try to become an SHO. He also allegedly threatened to implicate him in an FIR. On Monday, Jarnail Singh was suspended over an alleged biased probe in a land grab case.
The dismissal orders issued by Commissioner RN Dhoke (copy with The Indian Express) said, “It has been brought to my notice that Inspector Jarnail Singh, posted as SHO Meharban, was not responding to the information received by him against illegal sand mining through local people and he was rather threatening them with dire consequences. The illegal sand mining is causing a huge financial loss to the state exchequer, and being a key enforcement police officer of the area, it was his foremost duty to check illegal sand mining and protect interest of the state.”
The orders further stated that the inspector has been dismissed from police services with immediate effect. The inspector on the other hand had alleged that Soni is an activist of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and ‘part of sand mining gang’ in the area. He had alleged that Soni had called him to ‘offer bribe’ to leave his men arrested for sand mining on Sunday.