Cops ‘attacked’ by kin of drug smuggling accused

LUDHIANA: The anti-narcotics team of Ludhiana police have allegedly been attacked by a family of Maya Nagar in Haibowal on Monday night, when the team conducted a raid following a tip-off about a man, Sunny Arora (24), indulging in drug smuggling. When the police conducted a raid at his house to arrest him, the man and his relatives opened an attack on the team with sticks. However, the team managed to escape from there and later lodged a police complaint.

On receiving the complaint, the Haibowal police have registered a case against Sunny, the main accused, and his relatives Inderjit Singh, Banka, and Dharminder, under sections 353, 186, 332, 148, and 149 of the IPC. The complainant, head constable Anil Jaura, said: “When a police team of three members raided the house, the accused thrashed the team and tried to keep them hostage. However, the team managed to escape from there.”

The investigating officer from Haibowal police station, ASI Chanan Singh, said the police team immediately reached the spot, and arrested two of the accused — Sunny, and his brother-in-law Inderjit (35). The ASI further added that Sunny had been facing trials in four cases of snatchings. On the other hand, the kin of the arrested accused have alleged that the police were framing them on wrong charges. They alleged that on Monday, a suspended head constable conducted the raid and took Rs1.60 lakh from their house.

Preety, sister of the accused Sunny, met police commissioner Sukhchain Singh Gill on Tuesday, with a complaint demanding an inquiry. She alleged that on Saturday, suspended head constable Balwinder Singh, along with some unidentified persons barged into their house claiming to be from the anti-narcotics wing. They stated Sunny was a smuggler and took him, along with cash of Rs1.6 lakh, from their house.

She further accused that Balwinder had demanded Rs1.35 lakh to release Sunny, for which they had already given Rs35,000 to him. “However, we failed to give Rs1 lakh more to Balwinder, so Balwinder — with the help of other cops — framed my brother in the case,” alleged Preety. Police chief Gill said he would mark an inquiry after checking the matter.