NRI drug lord Raja Kandola sentenced to nine years in prison in PMLA case

Chandigarh: The District and Sessions Court in Jalandhar on Tuesday sentenced Britain-based NRI drug lord Ranjeet Singh alias Raja Kandola, who's presently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, to nine years' imprisonment in a 2012 PMLA case linked to a Rs 200 crore drug (methamphetamine) seizure.

The court also sent his wife Rajwant Kaur to prison for three years, besides acquitting their son, Bally Singh, in the case.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Kandola, while his wife was fined Rs 25,000.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had filed a chargesheet under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against Kandola, who belongs to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, in 2015.

Kandola was arrested in June 2012 by the Punjab Police. However, he escaped from police custody in September the same year be3fore being rearrested from Delhi. Currently, he is lodged in Tihar Jail.

An FIR was filed against Kandola, his wife Rajwant, their son Bally, among others, at the Kartarpur police station under the NDPS Act and the Arms Act. Based on the FIR, the ED probed the inflow of money from foreign accounts.

Kandola was running a syndicate by procuring drugs from Pakistan. He was involved in supplying drugs in Punjab, Delhi and other big cities of the country. As per the prosecution, Kandola had wide connections in Canada, Australia, and the United States.

Interestingly, in December 2023, the District and Sessions Judge had acquitted Kandola and 13 others in the case registered on June 1, 2012.

The court later observed that the investigating officer, Inderjit Singh (now dismissed), was serving as an 'honourary inspector', while he was actually a head constable.

The prosecution argued that an officer under the rank of an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) could not investigate an NDPS case.

Another investigating officer, Inderjit Singh, was named accused in another drug smuggling case.