NIA yet to give clean chit to Gurdaspur SP

The National Investigation Agency is yet to give a clean chit to Gurdaspur Superintendent of Police Salwinder Singh in the Pathankot attack case, contrary to reports claiming that the NIA has concluded its investigation and has not found anything amiss about the SP. Salwinder Singh has been under the scanner for making contradictory statements on his alleged abduction by terrorists before the Pathankot attack early on 2 January. The NIA is probing whether he was part of a drug racket, apart from being involved in the smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) in the border areas, say sources in the agency. Government officials questioning Salwinder say that it was not yet clear whether he was aware that he was helping terrorists and not smugglers on the night of 31 December. Sources close to Salwinder, however, claim that there was no truth behind such allegations.

“We are probing whether he was part of a drug cartel and used his position to facilitate the ferrying of drugs and FICNs across the border. We are still investigating what happened on the night of 31 December. A strong possibility is that Salwinder was not aware that he was helping terrorists,” an official source alleged.

The official claimed that they are probing whether Salwinder was helping the couriers who smuggle into India drugs and FICNs, or was sometimes required to pass on the drugs and fake currencies to other persons after taking possession of them in lieu of charging a “commission” for it. “If the consignment is huge, the commissions are paid in diamond ornaments rather than cash, as ornaments are much easier to conceal,” the officials said. According to officials, they have found several glaring discrepancies in Salwinder’s statements that do not match with the statement of others who are part of this case, including the people who were with him in his car and the caretaker of the mazaar (religious place) where he had gone just before the alleged abduction.

1. Since when have you been visiting Makar, where the mazaar is situated? 2. How many times have you been there in the last six months? 3. Who is the caretaker of the mazaar? 4. How do you explain the fact that the caretaker told us that he has never met you nor does he know you? 5. Why do you carry four cell phones with you?