“Drug Lord” Raja Kandola Names Two Punjab Police Officers

The names of ParamrajSingh Umranangal, InspectorGeneral (IG) , Bathinda Range,and Balwinder Singh, Superintendentof Police (SP), Detective,Mohali, have surfaced inthe confessional statement ofRaja Kandola submitted duringthe ongoing investigations. EnforcementDirectorate to ask theofficers to give details of propertiesand bank accounts.JALANDHAR – Two seniorPunjab Police officers maybe in trouble for their allegedlinks with drug lord Raja Kandola.The Enforcement Directorate(ED) has decided to seek apoint-by-point clarification fromthe two officers about their bankaccounts and properties.The names of ParamrajSingh Umranangal, InspectorGeneral (IG) , Bathinda Range,and Balwinder Singh, Superintendentof Police (SP), Detective,Mohali, have surfaced inthe confessional statement ofRaja Kandola submitted duringthe ongoing investigations.The ED will hand over thequestionnaire to the officerswithin a week. The latter will begiven a week to submit their replies,ED sources said.The Punjab Police had arrestedKandola last year. TheED had attached Kandola’s fourproperties worth over Rs 20crore. He and his wife RajwantKaur had never filed any IncomeTax return.The ED has initiated an investigationinto the propertiesand other assets of the two policeofficers in the light of writtendisclosures by Kandola beforeED sleuths.“If it is found that no drugmoney has been used, we cannotinvoke the provisions of thePrevention of Money LaunderingAct (PMLA) against the officers,”said an official.Kandola, in his statementto the ED, has reportedly describedthe two police officers ashis “friends”. He has not namedany other police official and politicianso far. Umranangal andBalwinder Singh have deniedany links with Kandola and hisdrug trade.The ED has not issued summonsto the officers at this stageas no case has been registered sofar. It is, however, in the processof seeking a detailed clarificationfrom the officers in respectto their properties and bank accounts.The motive is not to determinewhether Kandola wasknown to these two officers, butto ascertain if any drug moneywas used by them.With the surfacing of thenames of two senior officers inthe multi-crore Kandola drugracket, the Punjab Police hasinitiated an “in-house” investigationinto the possible linksbetween police officers andKandola and the nature of theselinks.Raja Kandola, it is learnt,has told the ED that BalwinderSingh was not only a “regular’visitor to his farmhouse in Samrala,but would also stay therefor a long time. “We will act onlyif we find out they were workingtogether to earn drug money,”said an ED official.