The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has suspended an Army officer in connection with the alleged custodial death of Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Jaswinder Singh here over a month ago. He was arrested by the central agency in a drugs-related case.
Major Amit Kumar was also transferred immediately after suspension, said a senior NCB official while confirming this. He was on deputation with the central agency.
The autopsy of BSF constable Jaswinder Singh has revealed as many as 34 injuries, including on his private parts. His family members have been alleging torture since his mysterious death in NCB custody on March 20.
Jaswinder Singh was picked up by the NCB in a drugs-related case on March 3 from near Miran Sahib Chowk, while returning to his home in Diwangarh village, near the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, after procuring medicines for his mother who was also accompanying him at that time.
Posted in Tripura, the constable was on leave at the time of his arrest. Since the incident, the family — including his mother Gurmeet Kaur, brother Pupinder Singh and wife Lovejeet Kaur — has been seeking justice. They had met the District and Sessions Judge, Jatinder Kaur, urging expeditious inquest proceedings. They also demanded an FIR against the NCB officials.
The post-mortem report had pointed out that all injuries were ante-mortem. However, the exact cause of death has been kept pending till receipt of the chemical examiner’s report from Kharar and histopathology findings from Government Medical College, Amritsar.
NCB officials had earlier claimed that Jaswinder died of a cardiac issue, while being taken from Jammu to Tarn Taran via Amritsar, on March 20 for recovery in the case. They had maintained that due procedure was followed, including judicial inquest proceedings and said Jaswinder’s arrest was based on technical inputs during investigations into cases involving his brother.
The family members have also approached Punjab and Haryana High Court for seeking probe from an independent agency in the case.
