Amritsar, May 4 — The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has suspended an Army officer on deputation as Assistant Director in connection with the alleged custodial death of BSF constable Jaswinder Singh, officials said on Sunday.
Major Amit Kumar was suspended and transferred with immediate effect, a senior NCB official confirmed. He is the second official to face action in the case after investigating officer Akash Rai, who was earlier suspended and is under departmental probe.
Jaswinder Singh died on March 20 while in NCB custody. The agency had stated that he suffered a cardiac issue while being transported from Jammu to Tarn Taran via Amritsar in connection with a drug-related case.
However, the post-mortem report recorded 34 injuries on his body, including on private parts, all of them ante-mortem, raising allegations of custodial torture by the family.
“The injuries were sustained before death,” officials familiar with the autopsy findings said, adding that the exact cause of death remains pending until chemical examiner and histopathology reports are received from Kharar and Government Medical College, Amritsar.
Jaswinder, posted in Tripura, had been on leave when he was picked up by the NCB on March 3 near Miran Sahib Chowk in Jammu while returning home with his mother after purchasing medicines.
His family—mother Gurmeet Kaur, brother Pupinder Singh and wife Lovejeet Kaur—has demanded registration of an FIR against NCB officials and an independent probe into the incident. They have also approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a fair investigation.
Earlier, the family met the District and Sessions Judge, urging expeditious inquest proceedings.
NCB officials have maintained that due procedure was followed, including judicial inquest, and said Jaswinder’s arrest was based on technical inputs linked to an investigation involving his brother.