CBI court sentences former Punjab cops in 2007 sex scandal

Chandigarh(The Uttam Hindu): A CBI court in Mohali on Monday sentenced Punjab’s former Senior Superintendent of Police Devinder Singh Garcha and former Superintendent of Police, Headquarters, Paramdip Singh Sandhu to five years of rigorous imprisonment each, in connection with the 2007 sex scandal in Moga. Besides the imprisonment under the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the court imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh each.

Garcha and Sandhu were arrested and charged with blackmailing influential persons to extort money. Former Inspector Amarjit Singh was sentenced to six-and-a-half years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 2.5 lakh, while former Sub-Inspector Raman Kumar was sentenced to eight years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 3 lakh. Both were found guilty of implicating prominent businessmen in a false gangrape case to extort money from them.

CBI Special Judge Rakesh Gupta pronounced the verdict after convicting Garcha, Sandhu, Raman Kumar, and Amarjit Singh under Sections 13(1) (D) and 13 (2) of the PC Act on March 29. Besides corruption, Raman Kumar was also convicted of extortion, while Amarjit Singh was convicted of attempting extortion. The CBI court acquitted Barjinder Singh, alias Makhan, the son of former Punjab minister Tota Singh, and Sukhraj Singh of all the charges. The CBI took over the probe on the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s direction on December 11, 2007. A day later, the central probe agency registered a fresh FIR in the case.

The sex scandal involved high-profile politicians and senior police officials extorting rich people by trapping them in a flesh trade case. As per the investigation, the accused public servants abused their positions and entered into a criminal conspiracy to obtain undue pecuniary gain by corrupt and illegal means. According to the charge sheet, two women, including Manjit Kaur, in connivance with the police officers and Barjinder Singh, extorted money from influential people by threatening to frame them in sexual abuse cases if they refused to pay up.