Amrik Singh, one of Punjab’s most-wanted drug smugglers, escaped on Saturday evening from the Government Rajindra Hospital Patiala due to lax prison officials. Among local drug dealers and cross-border heroin networks, he was considered a vital link.
The jail officials took him to the hospital, according to sources. When Amrik escaped from the hospital, only one jail official was present, they said. According to sources, jail officials did not inform the local police that such a notorious criminal was being hospitalized.
There were at least seven charges against Amrik Singh, who belongs to the Dedhna village in Patiala. Drug smuggling has been Amrik’s business since 2004. By the District Courts of Patiala, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for smuggling poppy husks.
When he was arrested in 2019, he had spent five years in prison before he was granted bail. After an exchange of fire with the Patiala police three months ago, he was again arrested with heroine and weapon. According to reports, he is the brother of proclaimed offender Avtar Singh, who has been charged with drug trafficking in the Jagdish Bhola case.
As a result of his pivotal role in the spread of a drug nexus across north India, police have begun a manhunt for him.
A preliminary enquiry has been ordered against the two jail officials who accompanied him, according to Patiala Jail superintendent Manjit Tiwana. “We will seek explanations from the local police if they were informed by the jail officer on duty, as well as for what reason he was hospitalized”.