Sonipat liquor scam: Another policeman arrested from Rohtak

CHANDIGARH: In a significant development in the liquor theft scam of Sonipat , the special investigation team (SIT) on Saturday arrested an assistant sub inspector (ASI), who had been the close confidant of sacked inspector Jasbir Singh .

Jaipal, who is in his early 40s, was arrested from a residential colony in Rohtak .

The Sonipat court has ordered his police remand. Meanwhile, the SIT sleuths have started conducting raids across the state and New Delhi to track down Jasbir, co-mastermind of the scam.

"We are hopeful of getting important clues from Jaipal. He had been a close aide of Jasbir Singh and had been the investigating officer in cases against Bhupinder Singh, kingpin of the entire racket. He and Jasbir had even threatened the officials of the Sonipat police, who wanted to give evidence in the case. Jaipal is being interrogated,'' said Sonipat SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa.

Interestingly, the interrogation of Bhupinder SIngh and his associate Satish Kumar has spilled the beans and their relations with politicians in Punjab and Haryana . During interrogation, Bhupinder has confessed to his the relationship with influential politicians of both states.

"During lockddown, he managed to forge permits of essential supplies, allegedly bearing the stamp of executive magistrate, Derabassi. During verification, the permits were found to be fake. He then confessed to have picked stock of liquor from Rajpura and Derabassi for supply in Haryana and other dry states. We have been able to establish his link with with a bootlegger in Gujarat,'' said Randhawa.

The SP, however, maintained that as of now, no proof of Bhupinder's direct or indirect link with any politician from Punjab had come on records.