Five Punjab Police personnel arrested for helping two escape

Four Head Constables and a Constable were apprehended from Ludhiana Police Lines on Saturday by a team of Delhi Police Special Cell which had arrested the two accused involved in the visa racket while they were trying to flee the country.

The arrested have been identified as Head Constables Satwinder Singh, Swaroop Singh, Paramjeet Singh and Richpal and Constable Sunil Kumar, a senior police official said.

They allegedly helped Vipin Kumar (34) and his brother-in-law Aman Alam (26) to come out of Ludhiana Jail on the basis of forged papers showing that they were to be produced in Delhi courts.

Sharma is involved in 23 cases of cheating, forgery, criminal breach of trust, attempt to murder and wrongful confinement registered at various police stations in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab. Sharma was arrested by Special Cell on May 18 earlier and was booked under MCOCA. Alam is also a proclaimed offender in six cases.

Head Constables Satwinder, Swaroop and Constable Sunil Kumar on October 31 allegedly took Kumar out of the Ludhiana jails and the other two took Aman Alam out on November two on the pretext of court appearance, the official said.

"The duo told the policemen that they will pay each Rs 20,000 per day till they return. They promised them that they will come before November seven when they were to return to Ludhiana Jail," the official said adding the duo did not return and the police personnel also could not locate them.

However, the official said, Kumar and Alam were arrested by Delhi Police on November six from IGI airport and GT Karnal Road respectively on a tip-off. "Their arrests lift the lid on the whole episode," the official said.

During interrogation, the official said, Kumar had told police that he had planned to evade the trial in the MCOCA case and other cases pending in various courts in India and decided to flee the country.

"For executing this plan he hatched a conspiracy with his other associates and officials of Ludhiana Jail and Punjab Police. As planned, his associate Narender faxed a forged production warrant for his appearance in a Delhi Court for November one," the official said.

After coming out of the jail, the official said, Sharma reached Mumbai and contacted an associate in Bangkok who asked him to contact one Rashid in Nepal. Rashid allegedly provided fake travel documents for the US via Mexico.