JAMMU: Mysterious burning of a sealed house in Qasim Nagar falling under the jurisdiction of Bagh e Bahu police station and later recovery of a dead body next day from the gutted building has stirred an environment of fear and anger among the residents who alleged that this incident is the outcome of failure of police to act against those habitually accommodate tenants in the area sans compulsory police verification.
Residents of the locality strongly complain that every clue of this crime leads towards an accommodation owned by Surjit Singh alias Bitta. They asserted that for last several years, this building has earned ignominy for accommodating criminals and anti-social elements as tenants who create law and order problem on several occasions and become menace for law abiding citizens in the area.
“It is astonishing to see that cops from Bagh e Bahu Police station off and on used to raid this building pertaining to law and order issue but never act against its owner under law for keeping tenants without verification. How he prevails upon Bagh e Bahu police station and enjoys permanent immunity is a million dollar question, residents of the locality rue in unison.
Meanwhile, reliable sources in Bagh e Bahu Police told JK Global News that till date there is no record of tenant verification pertaining to house own by Surjit Singh. They further revealed till date no action has been taken against him for keeping tenants without mandatory police verification. To everyone surprise, the woman who was staying along with 4-5 suspects as unverified tenant in Surjit’s building has left the accommodation on Monday morning with bag and baggage in hush-hush manner, told one cop confiding anonymity.
Most of the residents in unison opined that whatever happened on the intervening night of Feb 9-10 in Qasim Nagar is due to lackadaisical approach of concerned cops towards input shared by a meaningful resident about assembly of drug peddler in a rented accommodation.
Moreover, the aggrieved residents also believes that behavior of some cops posted at Bagh e Bahu police station is not compatible with the vision envisage by the top leadership in the organization. “Relentlessly, the higher ups in police are seeking civilian support to eliminate monster of narcotic sales and consumption besides related crimes like human trafficking and theft but down the line a few cops with inflated egos are feeling uncomfortable about selfless initiative of some samaritans in eradicating the menace of crime and criminals”, says a resident of Qasim Nagar, wishing not to be named, adding “Entire Jammu knows the hurdles faced by us in the system to demolish ecosystem of a devilish lady who was openly running large scale brothel and drug supply chain fearlessly for 10 years under the jurisdiction of Bagh e Bahu police station without any fear of law enforcement agencies”.
Meanwhile reliable sources said, “Team of four cops from Bagh e Bahu police without any responsible officer raided a building owned by one Surjit Singh alias Bitta on Sunday evening at about 10:30 pm. The police team left empty handed as a woman inside refused to open the gate. Thus, providing an opportunity to all suspects to escape by scaling walls of adjoining residential buildings and took refuge in an empty house which was sealed in POCSO case by the District Magistrate, Jammu in 2023. Not only this, even when the Fire and Emergency team was dosing off fire which engulfed a sealed house in the intervening night of Feb 9-10, , the concerned SHO of Bagh e Bahu police station was conspicuous by his absence.
Though we are investigating all aspects related to this case but one thing is crystal clear that there is connection between burning of a sealed building and those who escape from rented accommodation after the raid. This is evident from the fact that the same lady who on Sunday refused to open the gate was seen creating hoo-halla next day for rescuing a person claiming to be his relative and trapped in the gutted house, reveal our reliable sources in police, adding that “Had raid carried at rented accommodation of Surjit was executed in a professional manner under the supervision of a responsible officer apart from busting a chain of narcotic supply both devastated house and life of a suspected drug peddler could have been saved”.
On being contacted, SHO Bagh e Bahu Police station, Inspector Vijay Kumar Verma while confronting our queries on the issue adopt threatening posture which is all together a new sort of educational exercise for author of this news item in his more than two decades old career in journalism.