The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has suspended two officers, including a Major-rank Army officer, in connection with the alleged custodial death of Border Security Force (BSF) jawan Jaswinder Singh (30) in March. As reported by The Indian Express, Singh, who was arrested in an alleged drug-related case, was found to have around 34 injuries on his body, according to the autopsy report.
According to sources, the suspended officers have been identified as an Army Major currently posted as Assistant Director in the Amritsar Zone, and a Sub-Inspector posted in the Jammu Zone. The Major was on deputation with the NCB.
“The NCB headquarters in Delhi is yet to receive the final conclusive postmortem report of Singh. Based on initial findings, both officers have been suspended. The case has also been transferred from the Amritsar Zone to the Delhi Zone. An inquiry has been initiated, and all details are being collected,” said a source.
Singh was detained by the NCB’s Jammu unit on allegations of having links with Pakistani drug smugglers. The agency claimed that during interrogation, they gathered information about narcotics hidden in the Patti area of the Tarn Taran district in Punjab.
He was on leave from his posting in Tripura when he was picked up on March 3 from Miran Sahib town while returning home to Diwangarh village near the international border with Pakistan. He died on March 20, while still in custody.
While Jaswinder’s mother and wife alleged he was falsely implicated in the case, dating back to 2024, and tortured in custody, the NCB had claimed he died of “cardiac events” while under arrest.
Following his death, the NCB had issued a statement on March 23, claiming that Singh had been taken to Amritsar on March 19 for further investigation, during which he developed chest pain and was admitted to a private hospital.
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However, the autopsy report told a different story, revealing 34 injuries on his body. It stated that while 24 wounds were found to be approximately two to four days old at the time of his death, nine other injuries were inflicted within 24 hours of his death. The medical examination had been conducted at Civil Hospital in Amritsar, and it detailed that the body had suffered blunt force trauma from head to toe.
“The violence was not limited to the limbs and torso. The 34th and most serious injury was a large collection of blood (a severe bruise) trapped between the scalp and the skull on the left side of his head. This was accompanied by a swollen, fluid-filled brain and tiny, pinpoint spots of bleeding inside the brain tissue, all of which indicate that the head suffered a very violent impact,” it stated.
The Miran Sahib police station, from whose jurisdiction the constable was arrested, had meanwhile booked a case of “abduction” in the matter, based on the complaint of Singh’s mother, Gurmeet Kaur, with officers saying the NCB kept them in the dark on the arrest.
Significantly, three other people arrested in the same drug case, including Singh’s brother, had been discharged by the Principal Sessions Judge, Samba, on March 7.
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“He was innocent… The NCB has destroyed my world. How will I survive now?” Singh’s wife, Lovejeet Kaur, 25, had told The Indian Express earlier. The couple have a five-year-old child.
