Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, August 6

In what could provide fresh ammunition to Punjab BJP chief Kamal Sharma’s detractors to target him, the police today lodged an FIR against four of his associates for allegedly accepting Rs 35 lakh as bribe in two cases of drug smuggling, counterfeit currency and fake arms licences.

Among those booked are Sharma’s personal assistant Jaspal Singh Sandhu alias Jimmy, BJP district president and District Planning Board chairman Jugraj Singh Katora, party’s circle president (rural) Gurcharan Singh and Lakhwinder Singh Lakha.

The quartet allegedly accepted bribe while promising clean chit to the accused on behalf of Ferozepur DSP Balwinder Singh Sekhon, who too has been named in the FIR. This money is learnt to have exchanged hands over the past one month.

The FIR, under sections 420 of the IPC and 8, 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, was registered following an investigation by an SP-rank officer. While Katora and Sekhon have been accused of accepting bribe in the case of drug smuggling and counterfeit currency, the other three have been named in the case concerning fake arms licences. Hardial Singh Mann, Ferozepur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), said the DSP and Katora have been accused of pocketing a major portion of the bribe. “The police are further investigating the case,” he said.

This alleged scam of buying reprieve for the accused through bribe surfaced when the Ferozepur police arrested four members of a family, including a woman, on the charge of smuggling drugs and fake currency on June 20. The accused allegedly approached Jimmy, Katora and Lakha and paid them Rs 20 lakh, of which Rs 6 lakh reached the DSP, mentions the FIR.

In the other case, Jimmy is accused of receiving Rs 15 lakh from an official in the Ferozepur District Arms Licence Branch after the official was arrested by the police for issuing fake licences.

Sharma has denied having any information about the misdeeds of Jimmy and Katora while the DSP did not respond to repeated calls and an SMS sent on his phone number by The Tribune.

As Sharma came under attack from the Congress as well as his rivals within own party after the scam came to light, he last week expelled Katora and Jimmy from the BJP. He even tried to distance himself from Lakha, but former BJP MLA from Ferozepur and a known Sharma baiter, Sukhpal Singh Nannu, today released photographs showing the duo (Sharma and Lakha) exchanging sweets.

Prior to the registration of the FIR today, the Congress staged a protest outside the SSP’s office in Ferozepur demanding a case against Sharma too. Congress MLA Parminder Singh Pinky said, “We have given a seven-day ultimatum to the police to arrest Sharma and his aides, failing which we will start an indefinite protest.”