A Superintendent of Police and two others were allegedly abducted, thrashed and later dumped by five "armed" men near Tajpur village here, and later, the body of an unidentified man was mysteriously found near the spot where their vehicle was dumped.
Soon after the incident, Inspector General (Border Range) Lok Nath Angra, ADG (crime) Hardip Singh Dhillon, SSP Gurdaspur Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and SSP Pathankot R P Bakhshi reached the spot with heavy police force.
IG Angra said that a red alert has been sounded in the area and search operation was launched in the entire border to apprehend the culprits.
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SP Jalandhar Salwinder Singh, his friend Rajesh Verma and their cook Madan Lal were returning from Narot Mehra area of Pathankot last night when they were abducted, according to the complaint by the SP.
Singh said that five youths waylaid their vehicle and kidnapped them. Later, the armed men thrashed and dumped them on the outskirts of Tajpur village.
Later, the police officer's car was found dumped near Tajpur village.
According to the police, the body of a man, identified as Ikagar Singh, was found near the vehicle, which made the case more complex. Ikagar was a resident of nearby Phoolgarh village.
Meanwhile, Verma, the friend of the SP, was admitted to a private nursing home in Pathankot, the IG said, adding that he was also being questioned.
Angra said that the police was taking matter seriously and investigating all aspects of the incident, including possibility of militants disguised in uniforms, involved in the incident.
Meanwhile, the cook, Madan Lal, was untraceable, police said.
SP Singh was transferred to Punjab Armed Police (PAP) complex Jalandhar four days ago.
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Sukhbir Badal also declared a policy for compassionate appointment in cases of Line-of-Duty Deaths (LoDD) which would offer posts of sub inspectors, in cases where eligibility conditions are fulfilled by the dependents/wards of non-gazetted police officers who lay down their lives in the Line-of-Duty, while combating terrorist/militant, criminal or anti-national elements.
He said the long pending issue of seniority in the ranks of Inspectors/SIs/ASIs/HCs had been resolved which would lead to over 3,200 promotions in the various police ranks that included 225 Inspectors, 400 Sub Inspectors, 660 Assistant Sub Inspectors and 1,700 Head Constables.
The Deputy Chief Minister said that Rs 25 crore would be used for police welfare, Rs 11 crore for strengthening the intelligence network, Rs 9.83 crore for investigation expenses besides building up police infrastructure in the state.
