Chandigarh, 30 October 2024: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former Punjab Police Inspector Inderjit Singh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), linking him to an extensive drug and extortion network. Although Singh’s arrest occurred on October 24, officials disclosed the details on Wednesday, with the Special PMLA Court in Mohali granting a 14-day judicial custody to the ED for Singh.
The investigation stems from an FIR filed by Punjab Police under the NDPS Act, Prevention of Corruption Act, and Arms Act against Singh, who served in the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) in Jalandhar and Kapurthala for years. Singh’s history includes a 2017 arrest by the Special Task Force (STF), which seized 4 kg of heroin and an AK-47 from him.
According to the ED, Singh allegedly operated with narcotics smugglers, offering them protection and conducting staged drug seizures. He would arrest smugglers under the NDPS Act, only to later demand bribes to facilitate their bail, sometimes using threats and coercion to extort money from their families.
One high-profile case involved drug smuggler Gurjit Singh, now deceased. Singh reportedly seized 13 kg of heroin, Rs 60 lakh in cash, and 19-20 tolas of gold from him.
However, Singh officially declared only Rs 36 lakh, keeping the remaining cash and gold for himself. Singh then allegedly threatened Gurjit’s family, extracting Rs 39 lakh and pressuring Gurjit to transfer ownership of their house in Chheharta, Amritsar, to his associate to prevent implicating his wife and father in the case. The ED has since attached this property along with a fixed deposit of Rs 32.42 lakh.
Further searches revealed Singh’s possession of 3 kg smack, Rs 16.5 lakh in cash, 3,550 British pounds, and two luxury vehicles—a Toyota Innova and a Mahindra Scorpio.
The ED continues to investigate Singh’s alleged role in drug trafficking and corruption, which officials describe as “a disturbing nexus of power and criminality.”
