It all went by the script till a hidden camera video exposed the police plot to allegedly frame a religious leader in a drug case.
The viral video purportedly shows ASI Sukhdev Singh, dressed in plain clothes, entering the room before the police team arrives. He is allegedly seen placing a packet beneath the bed mattress.
Mahant Kashmir Giri, who was arrested on charges of drug trafficking following the raid, has also been released from the case. A Punjab Police Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) has been suspended after a purported video from a hidden camera at a Hindu religious leader’s home allegedly showed him planting heroin under a bed mattress just before a police raid. The incident has triggered serious questions over the conduct of the Khanna police in Ludhiana district. Khanna SSP Dr Darpan Ahluwalia has suspended ASI Sukhdev Singh, who was posted with the CIA staff, and ordered his removal from the case. The controversy centres on a police raid at the residence of Mahant Kashmir Giri in Khanna town. A Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by an officer of Superintendent of Police rank, has been constituted to conduct a detailed probe into the incident. The incident has also led to political attacks on the AAP government in the state. Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has hit out the Bhagwant Mann government over the video and police’s conduct.
The raid was conducted after the arrest of Giri’s driver, Gurjant Singh alias Janta, who was allegedly caught with 7.5 grams of heroin, according to the police.
