- विज्ञापन -
Chandigarh: In the 18-year-old Moga sex scandal case, the Special CBI Court in Mohali has sentenced four police officers to five years in prison. The convicted officers include former SSP Davinder Singh Garcha, former SP Headquarters Moga Parmdeep Singh Sandhu, former SHO of Moga City Police Station Raman Kumar, and Moga City Police Station Inspector Amarjeet Singh. Each has also been fined ₹2 lakh. Inspector Raman has received an additional three years of imprisonment and a ₹1 lakh fine under a separate section.
After the verdict, the complainant Ranjit Singh expressed satisfaction with the judgment, calling it a great decision. The court had found the four officers guilty on March 29. However, Akali leader Tota Singh’s son, Barjinder Singh (also known as Makkhan Barar), and Sukhraj Singh were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The CBI Court convicted Davinder Singh Garcha and Parmdeep Singh Sandhu under the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, Section 13(1)(d) along with Section 13(2). Raman Kumar and Amarjeet Singh were convicted under the same sections of the PC Act and Section 384 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Amarjeet Singh was also found guilty under Section 511 of IPC in addition to Section 384.
The case dates back to 2007, during the Akali-BJP government. It began when a rape case was filed by a girl from a village in Jagraon, with accusations against around 50 unidentified men. During the investigation, police officers began blackmailing and involving businessmen and politicians, demanding money in exchange for dropping charges.
Ranjit Singh from Bhagi village recorded an audio of SHO Amarjeet Singh demanding ₹50,000, threatening him with arrest on false charges of rape if he did not comply. Ranjit filed a complaint with the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), bringing the case to public attention.
In November 2007, the Punjab and Haryana High Court took suo-motu notice of the case, stating that it seemed to be no less significant than the Jammu sex scandal. The court directed the police to submit a report and later transferred the investigation to the CBI.
Following the High Court’s intervention, the CBI took over the investigation in December 2007. It was revealed that the four police officers, in collusion with others, had conspired to extort money from innocent businessmen and traders by falsely implicating them in rape cases. The officers were arrested in February 2008.
