ASI Harbhajan Singh and constables Malaggan Singh and Avtar Singh were held guilty in the report of the inquiry conducted by Dehlon DSP Paramjit Singh Goraya.

“Not only have these men been put under suspension, further departmental action has also been recommended against them. These personnel have brought a bad name to the police and we want to set an example for the others,” said DSP Goraya.

On January 20, Forest Department officials had reportedly spotted these policemen “assisting timber thieves”.

The thieves had cut down and made away with three trees in the Khaira Bet area under Ludhiana Rural police district. Forest Department had fined two people in this regard, including ASI Harbhajan Singh.

Following the incident, Rural SSP Bhullar had marked an inquiry to Dehlon DSP Goraya. Former chairman of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust, Ashok Singh Garcha, had also claimed that some policemen were hand in glove with the thieves.

He had said that in December last, some thieves had cut down and stolen 30 eucalyptus trees from his farmhouse in the Khaira Bet area. Garcha’s farmhouse is near the area from where the trees were stolen last month.