JAMMU – Jammu and Kashmir Police has decided to probe whether there were any criminal links between arrested Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP), Davinder Singh and 2001 Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru.
J&K Director General of Police (DGP), Dilbag Singh, told reporters that since Davinder Singh has been accused of being involved in nexus with the militants, his role in the Parliament attack conspiracy would also be thoroughly probed.
“Nobody will be protected. Whosoever has disgraced his uniform and tried to tarnish the image of J&K Police will get the punishment he deserves.
“The role of Davinder Singh in the Parliament attack and his criminal links, if any, with Afzal Guru will be probed,” Dilbag Singh said.
In 2013, Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru had told his lawyer and also issued a statement that Davinder Singh had tortured him and threatened to kill his family unless Guru agreed “to do a small job” for him.
Guru said Davinder Singh told him to carry a militant to Delhi, rent a flat for him there and also buy a second hand white Ambassador car for the use of the militant.
The allegations levelled against Davinder Singh by Afzal Guru in 2013 were not looked into as the state police and the intelligence agencies dismissed the allegations ‘as a figment of Afzal Guru’s imagination’.
Sources have confirmed that Afzal Guru was interrogated by Davinder Singh at the Humhama interrogation centre on the outskirts of Srinagar city after the former’s arrest by the SOG where Singh was posted.
The police chief said the department has recommended dismissal of Davinder Singh from service and also forfeiture of the gallantry award given to him by the previous state government in 2018.
The DGP also said keeping the highly sensitive nature of the case in mind the UT government has requested the NIA to take over the investigations into this case.
“It has been decided that the case will be handed over to the NIA,” Dilbag Singh said.
It must be mentioned that since Davinder Singh was a gazetted officer holding the rank of the Dy.SP, his dismissal from police service can only be ordered by the Union Territory government headed by lieutenant governor, G.C.Murmu.
Highly placed sources said a team of the NIA is reaching here within the next three or four days to formally seek the custody of Davinder Singh and Naveed Baba, the dreaded militant who was arrested with Singh on Saturday on the Srinagar-Jammu highway.
It is also important to mention that Naveed Baba, who was second in command of the Hizbul outfit, is accused of killing 11 civilians, including non-local labourers, truck drivers and fruit merchants in south Kashmir districts after August 5 last year when Article 370 was abrogated.
A top source said it will also be investigated whether the arrested police officer had any direct or indirect role in those killings.
Recruited as an assistant sub-inspector in 1990, Davinder had a meteoric rise in police department becoming a Dy.SP within a short period of 10 years.
His promotion to the rank of the superintendent of police (SP) was under consideration before he was arrested, sources added.
MHA asks NIA to initiate process of probing case of Davinder
The Union home ministry has asked the NIA to initiate the process of probing the case of suspended Jammu and Kashmir Police deputy superintendent Davinder Singh, who was caught in south Kashmir while ferrying two militants to Jammu last weekend, officials said on Thursday.
The formal notification of handing over the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is expected to be issued by the ministry soon, an official privy to the development said.
Necessary formalities are being completed in Jammu as well as in Delhi before the probe agency takes over the case. The NIA has been credited with breaking the nexus between stone pelters and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir.
Some NIA members, posted in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, were present during the preliminary questioning of Singh and three others — Naveed Babu, a district commander of militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen, his associate Atif Ahmed and a lawyer, Irfan Ahmad Mir, who has been named as an active overground worker for militant groups by police.
The officials said all records would be handed over to the NIA after the case is registered by the agency.
Singh, who was arrested along with the three other people on Saturday, had ferried Babu to Jammu last year and facilitated his return to Shopian after “rest and recuperation”.
He is believed to have taken Rs 12 lakh for “smuggling” the two militants to Chandigarh and arrange for their accommodation for a couple of months, the officials said.
Mir, who was driving the vehicle when he along with the others were caught by the police from a national highway in Kulgam district, may become a prize catch for the NIA as it is alleged that he was carrying orders from Pakistan.
He had visited the neighbouring country five times on an Indian passport.
Arrested DSP’s JK police medal for gallantry ‘forfeited’: Govt order
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has “forfeited” the Sher-e-Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry awarded to Deputy Superintendent of Police Davinder Singh, who has been arrested for helping militants travel out of JK, an official order said.
It said the suspended officer’s act amounted to disloyalty and brought the force into disrepute.
According to the order, Singh was awarded Jammu and Kashmir’s highest police award in 2018.
“Consequent upon the arrest of Mr. Davinder Singh on January 11 while trying to assist terrorist to travel outside J&K and recovery of arms and ammunition which amounts to disloyalty and conduct that has brought the force into disrepute, the Sher-e-Kashmir Police Medal for Gallantry, is hereby forfeited,” said the government order, signed by Shaleen Kabra, Principal Secretary (Home).
On Tuesday, police said searches were carried out at Singh’s residence here, next to the Army’s XV corps headquarters at Badami Bagh cantonment, where he had sheltered Naveed, Altaf and a new joinee in the militant outfit.
Two pistols, an AK rifle and a large quantity of ammunition were seized from his residence, they had said.
Rahul Gandhi Questions PM Modi, HM’s Silence
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Jammu and Kashmir Deputy SP Davinder Singh, who was nabbed for harbouring militants, and asked who was providing the officer protection and why.
He also sought to know Singh’s role in the Pulwama attack and how many militants he helped, demanding that the officer be tried by a fast-track court and given the harshest punishment for treason against India.
“DySP Davindar Singh sheltered 3 militants with Indian blood on their hands at his home and was caught ferrying them to Delhi, the Congress leader tweeted.
“He must be tried by a fast track court within 6 months and if guilty, given the harshest possible sentence for treason against India,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
Gandhi attached a picture along with his tweet that dubbed Davinder Singh a militant and raised several questions.
“Government silent on terrorist DSP Davinder Singh. Why are PM, HM and NSA silent on Davinder Singh. What was Davinder Singh’s role in Pulwama attack. How many other militants has he helped. Who was protecting him and why,” Gandhi asked in the photo attached to his tweet.
He also used the hashtag “TerroristDavindarCoverUp” along with it.
The Congress has already said that there is a larger conspiracy behind the arrest of Davinder Singh and sought to know his links with the Pulwama attack and has demanded an independent probe. (With Inputs From Agencies)
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
