Ice case: Amritpal’s brother in two-day police custody
Amritpal’s family has already termed the police action as a conspiracy to defame the radical Sikh preacher who is detained under the National Security Act at Dibrugarh jail in Assam.
A court of additional sessions judge on Friday sent Harpreet Singh, brother of Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, and his accomplice Lovepreet Singh in two-day custody of the Jalandhar rural police in connection with the ice (Methamphetamine) recovery case. Both were arrested with 4-gm drug on the Jalandhar-Panipat national highway near Phillaur on July 11.
On July 12, the court of the first class magistrate in Phillaur had sent both, against whom a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered, to judicial custody for 14 days, turning down the police request which had been seeking their 10-day custody.
Harpreet has already filed a bail application in the Phillaur court the hearing for which is scheduled on Saturday. Sukhdev Singh, SHO of the Phillaur police station, confirmed that both the accused were brought on production warrant from the Patiala jail. “The court has given police two-day remand of the accused for further investigation into the matter,” he said.
Harpreet, who belongs to Jallu Khera village in Amritsar district, was reportedly apprehended red-handed while consuming drugs along with Lovepreet Singh of Cheema Bath village.
The Jalandhar police had approached the sessions court with a revision petition pertaining to the lower court’s order on the basis of the facts that came to the fore during detailed interrogation of “drug peddler” Sandeep Arora from whom Harpreet had allegedly bought drugs on the night of their arrest. Arora’s three-day custody ended on Tuesday.
Based on Arora’s interrogation, the Jalandhar rural police had arrested his accomplice Munish Kumar, who used to handle financial transactions related to their drug business. “Based on the investigation, we are preparing a detailed case to approach the higher court for Harpreet and Lovepreet’s police custody as substantial facts have emerged against both of them and their alleged involvement in this nexus,” a police official said.
On July 11, the police intercepted a vehicle parked along the highway near Phillaur in Jalandhar district at 11 pm. During checking, the police team seized 4 gm of ICE, a digital weighing scale, three mobile phones, a lighter, half-burnt ₹20 note and foil papers from Harpreet and Lovepreet.
The accused reportedly confessed that they had transferred ₹10,000 digitally to Sandeep and bought the drugs for consumption. According to initial medical reports, the dope tests of both were found positive.
Amritpal’s family has already termed the police action as a conspiracy to defame the radical Sikh preacher who is detained under the National Security Act at Dibrugarh jail in Assam.
