Punjab DSP Found Dead Along Canal; He Was An Arjuna Awardee

New Delhi: Punjab Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Dalbir Singh Deol, 54, also an Arjuna awardee, was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Jalandhar on Monday.

Deol was an Asian Games gold medallist in weightlifting and was later conferred the Arjuna Award in 2000.

The body with multiple injuries was found abandoned near a canal at Basti Bawa Khel on the outskirts of Jalandhar town in the morning. Deol was posted at Punjab Armed Police (PAP) headquarters in Jalandhar, Hindustan Times reported.

Police started an investigation after the DSP’s family lodged a complaint that he had gone for New Year celebrations with friends on Saturday evening, but failed to return home.

On December 16, he had opened fire in an inebriated state after a fight with residents of Basti Ibrahim Khan village in Jalandhar. The residents had objected to his drinking in public. Deol was briefly detained but released the next day as both sides reached a compromise, according to the report.

The DSP was allegedly consuming liquor with village sarpanch Bhupinder Singh Gill at a parking lot when the residents expressed their disapproval. Videos from the spot showed the DSP and the sarpanch arguing with the residents and Deol brandishing his weapon. The report quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the DSP fired four rounds before the villagers overpowered the two and handed them over to the police.