Cops ‘move’ detainee minutes before warrant officer’s visit

Amritsar : A youth, identified as Gurpreet Singh of Sheikhu Mohalla of Jandiala, was allegedly kept in illegal custody by the Jandiala Guru police here. A warrant officer deputed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court raided the police station on Thursday evening, but the youth was not there at that time. Advocate Gurjinderjit Singh Sahota, who accompanied the warrant officer, said three persons present in the lock-up said the police shifted the boy minutes ago. He said warrant officer Manoj Kashyap had submitted his report to the High Court.The victim’s family said they couldn’t trace him. His mother, Paramjit Kaur, told mediapersons that the Jandiala Guru police picked him up from their residence on Sunday and asked them to produce her younger son, Gagandeep Singh, whom they suspected to be involved in drug trafficking. Gurpreet is a student, while Gagandeep is a dropout. She added that Gagandeep had been missing for the past three months.She said they made rounds of police officials, pleading to release Gurpreet, but they did not pay heed to their requests. Later, they approached the High Court, which deputed a warrant officer to verify the allegations.She said when the warrant officer along with advocate Gurjinderjit reached the police station, only a head constable was present there. She said Gurpreet was not there in the lock-up.She said three persons in the lock-up told them that Gurpreet was shifted shortly ago, which meant that information about the warrant officer’s visit had been leaked before he reached there. She alleged that a constable posted in the Majitha police station was harassing the family. He had a dispute with Gagandeep, so he got Gurpreet picked up by the police. She claimed that the same cop was also present at the police station when the warrant officer conducted a raid.