Druglord Jagdish Singh Bhola in judicial custody as his remand ends

PHAGWARA: Druglord Jagdish Singh Bhola was sent in judicial custody by a court in Phagwara on Monday after his custody with local police ended. He was sent in custody of Phagwara police on January 15 in connection with the killing of assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Gurdev Singh on March 31, 2013. Bhola was sent to Nabha jail by the court. Though he was brought by Phagwara police for questioning in the murder case of ASI Gurdev, police officers were tight-lipped about revelations made by him in the matter.
Bhola was brought from Nabha jail just after he was taken there by Jalandhar police, which had sought his remand in connection with a case of recovery of 1kg heroin from two persons on December 24, 2013. However, Jalandhar police claimed that no recovery or important revelation emerged from his questioning.
The investigating officer in ASI Gurdev's murder case, Sarwan Singh Bal, SHO of Phagwara police station, said that Bhola was questioned by an officer of the rank of senior superintendent of police (SSP). Kapurthala SSP Inderbir Singh remained inaccessible despite repeated calls on his phone.
When Bhola was brought on police remand, SSP had said that it was prerogative of the investigating officer after he was able to gather sufficient evidence necessitating questioning of the accused. The SSP had said that two accused Pinda and Mintu, arrested by Patiala police and then questioned by Phagwara police, had disclosed that the pistol with which the ASI was gunned down by the four accused near Haveli Dhaba on NH-1 was supplied by Bhola.
Bhola was sent in judicial custody on December 22, after being in police remand in various drug peddling cases, following his arrest a month earlier on November 11. It was only after January 6, when Bhola named Punjab cabinet minister Bikram Singh Majthia for allegedly running the drug racket that Jalandhar and Phagwara police took him on remand in separate cases.