Former Punjab director general of police (DGP, prisons) Shashi Kant on Friday claimed that the Badal government was trying to eliminate him so as to stop him from exposing ministers, MLAs and former legislators involved in the drug racket.

Kant said druglord Jagdish Singh Bhola’s allegations were just the tip of the iceberg as during his stint in the state intelligence unit, he had detected the involvement of many “big names” of the SAD-BJP alliance and the opposition Congress in the drug trade.

 

“I fear that the Punjab Police could eliminate me and dispose of my body in a canal to pass me off as missing,” he said.

Kant said some Punjab police personnel in plain clothes tried to kidnap him at his Chandigarh house on Friday when he was leaving for Patiala to address a press conference regarding political patronage to the drug mafia. As he failed to turn up at Patiala, the former DGP addressed the media on the mobile phone and announced that he would give details of the drug mafia-police-politician nexus in the Punjab and Haryana high court.

“(Parkash Singh) Badal saab is very much aware of the list I handed over to him through proper channel. But he doesn’t want that this list should be out. The same is the case with Congress leaders as some prominent partymen are involved in the drug trade,” said Kant, who spoke to the media through the cell phone of Patiala Congress leader Harpal Singh.

“The Badal government is building pressure on me to stop me from naming leaders of the SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress,” he said, adding that, “I would name 12 to 14 persons, including ministers, sitting and former MLAs, and policemen, who were part of this nefarious racket, which is ruining Punjab.”

Kant said he could not release the list of politicians to the media as the court was hearing the case. “I would give the list to court in a sealed cover,” he announced.

 

Cops rounded up, released
CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh police got a call from former DGP Shashi Kant around 8:30am on Friday, claiming that around 10 Punjab police personnel had surrounded his house in Sector 18 with the intention of kidnapping him.

A UT police team rushed to the spot and rounded up around six Punjab police personnel, who were in plain clothes in a Hyundai car. The cops were taken to the Sector 19 police station. After verification, they were released.

UT senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sukhchain Singh Gill stated that after investigating the matter, it was found that the Punjab cops were standing near Kant’s residence regarding a case which had nothing to do with the ex-DGP. He said the nature of the complaint was non-cognisable, so no FIR was registered.

Calling the drug mafia-politician nexus ‘narco politics’, the former DGP had petitioned the Punjab and Haryana high court in September last year, alleging that the drug racket in Punjab was being run by politicians from various parties either directly or through their henchmen in connivance with the state police.
Police refute allegation

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police on Friday refuted former DGP Shashi Kant’s allegation that cops had tried to kidnap him here, clarifying that the cops in plain clothes were present near his residence on an assignment.

“The matter was looked into by the Chandigarh Police, who found that four members of an unarmed investigation team had gone to Sector 18 in connection with an ongoing investigation pertaining to Mohali district. They were duly examined by the Chandigarh Police, who concluded that there was no ‘kidnapping plan’ of any kind, as apprehended by Shashi Kant,” Punjab ADGP (security-cum-law and order) Dinkar Gupta said in a press statement here.

Pointing out that the UT police had filed Kant’s complaint, Gupta said he and ADGP (crime) Jasminder visited Kant at his residence, assuring him of providing more security in case he needed it.

Kant has presently been provided with two personal security officers (PSOs) from the Punjab Police, Gupta added.

 

Read more here-  http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/1171376.aspx?s=p

 

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