Ex-Punjab police officer sentenced to 10 years jail

Chandigarh, Feb 21 (IANS) Former Superintendent of Police (SP) of Punjab Police, Salwinder Singh, was on Thursday sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment in a case of rape registered against him.

The controversial police officer, who had alleged abduction by the Pakistani terrorists who attacked the Pathankot Air Force base in January 2016, was also sentenced to five years' imprisonment in another case of bribery under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Both sentences will run concurrently, according to the court order.

Salwinder, 55, was convicted by the court in Gurdaspur town, around 225 km from here, on February 15.

The rape case was registered against him in August 2016. He was booked for bribery also in August 2016.

The police officer had courted controversy in regard to the pre-dawn January 2, 2016 Pathankot air base attack by Pakistani terrorists. The terrorists had reached the IAF base from the India-Pakistan border using his SUV.

He had alleged that he was abducted by the terrorists at gunpoint in his SUV and later dumped at an isolated spot. He could not give logical reasons for moving around in the border belt late in the night.

He was questioned by National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials over his claims.

Salwinder was mired in another controversy after the Punjab DGP ordered an inquiry into accusations of bigamy levelled against him by a woman based in Tanda town in Hoshiarpur district. The woman had alleged that the police officer had secretly married her and they even had a teenaged son.