Punjab Police's dismissed Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Raj Jit Singh, who had been on the run for nearly three years in connection with an alleged nexus between police personnel and narcotics smugglers, was arrested from Patiala on Thursday. According to police officials, the fugitive officer was tracked down and captured at a residential house located in the Darshan Singh Nagar locality of Patiala.
Arrest Executed by Anti-Narcotics Task Force
A senior police officer confirmed that the operation leading to the arrest was spearheaded by a team from the Anti-Narcotics Task Force. The breakthrough was achieved through a sustained investigation centered on technical surveillance and financial forensic tracking. Law enforcement authorities had been actively trailing Raj Jit Singh across multiple locations before pinpointing his exact whereabouts in Patiala.
Dismissal by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in April 2023
Raj Jit Singh was dismissed from service in April 2023 by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. That definitive disciplinary measure followed proceedings initiated on the basis of three comprehensive inquiry reports submitted by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The mandate of those judicial inquiry reports was to examine the deep-rooted alleged nexus between state police personnel and illicit narcotics networks operating across Punjab.
Background of the 2017 SIT and the Inderjit Singh Link
Official records indicate that the SIT was originally established in 2017. The team was tasked with examining allegations surrounding the association between Raj Jit Singh, who served as the SSP of Moga at the time, and dismissed police inspector Inderjit Singh. Inderjit Singh had already been ousted from the police force in 2017 following the alleged seizure of contraband substances from his possession by the Special Task Force.
SIT Findings Highlighted Collusion and Trafficker Links
The SIT documented critical material pointing directly toward Raj Jit Singh's alleged involvement with Inderjit Singh. The official dismissal order issued by the state government in 2023 noted that the contents of all three SIT reports clearly laid bare the collusion between Raj Jit Singh and dismissed inspector Inderjit Singh, alongside their joint connections with narcotics smugglers. The evidence indicated systemic shielding of criminal operators by individuals within the police machinery.
Over 50 Failed NDPS Samples and Abuse of Official Authority
The state government's order highlighted that during the period when Raj Jit Singh served as the Senior Superintendent of Police in Tarn Taran and Inderjit Singh held charge of the CIA unit, samples in more than 50 cases under the NDPS Act failed forensic testing. The order stated that both officers abused their official authority for personal gain, allegedly shielding narcotics traffickers from rigorous judicial punishment, implicating innocent persons in fabricated cases, and trying to compromise the criminal investigation into the FIR registered against Inderjit Singh.
Exploitation of Legal Technicalities and Extortion Allegations
The government order further elaborated that Raj Jit Singh was well versed in the procedural and technical technicalities governing cases registered under the NDPS Act. He allegedly collaborated with Inderjit Singh to leverage those legal intricacies to serve personal ends, run extortion activities, and secure impunity for narcotics dealers facing severe statutory penalties. Following Thursday's arrest in Patiala, law enforcement authorities have initiated subsequent legal proceedings against the former officer.
