PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday backed a family’s demand for a CBI probe into the death of a BSF jawan in Punjab after his arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau in Jammu in a drug trafficking case.
BSF constable Jaswinder Singh was picked up on March 3 for questioning in a drug-related case. The constable died in Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) custody in Jammu and Kashmir, weeks after being arrested in a drugs smuggling case. While the NCB attributed the death to "cardiac events," familial allegations of custodial torture have created a dispute.
However, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) rejected the charge and said the jawan suffered two cardiac events and died on March 20 during treatment at Pulse Hospital, Amritsar.“The family wants a CBI inquiry into the circumstances leading to Singh’s death. He was an innocent person who had been framed for drug peddling,” Mufti told reporters on the sidelines of a PDP event in Kathua district.
Supporting the demand for a CBI probe, Mufti said an allegation of drug-related offences does not mean that someone should be tortured to death.“I think the police should look into this and not make such mistakes. Earlier, a man named Pervez Ahmad was killed (in July last year) in the Nikki Tawi area of Jammu after being accused of drug peddling. This is wrong, it should not happen,” Mufti said.
An agency spokesperson said Jaswinder was taken into custody after an investigation into the September 2024 case revealed that he was in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and was actively involved in the smuggling of contraband in the border districts of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
Jaswinder, a resident of RS Pura area, was posted in the Tripura sector of the border-guarding force.“Jaswinder Singh was arrested on the basis of evidence derived from technical analysis, which revealed that he was in contact with smugglers based in Pakistan, Punjab, and Jammu. Based on the investigation, he was taken to Amritsar, Punjab, on the evening of 19.03.2026 for further investigation,” an NCB spokesperson said in a statement Monday.
“On 19.03.2026 at Amritsar, he developed chest pain and was immediately admitted to Pulse Hospital, Amritsar. He suffered two cardiac events and expired on the morning of 20.03.2026 at Pulse Hospital, Amritsar,” he further said. Complying with the protocol prescribed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court of India, the local zone of the NCB in Amritsar has initiated procedures such as inquest proceedings by a judicial magistrate, a magisterial enquiry by the executive magistrate, and a post-mortem examination.
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