The agency filed the FIR on the directions of the Delhi High Court, which was hearing petitions filed by BSF constables B. Venkataswamy and Tarsem Singh. File | Photo credit: PTI
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against unidentified Border Security Force (BSF) officers and others to probe allegations of tampering with records that falsely implicated two paramilitary constables in a 2008 smuggling case.
The agency filed the FIR on the directions of the Delhi High Court, which was hearing petitions filed by BSF constables B. Venkataswamy and Tarsem Singh.
The petitioners said they were on operational duty at the Dayarampur border post in West Bengal when they seized 75 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup from a fleeing suspect on 26 December 2008 and reported it to their superior officers.
They alleged that some senior officers, instead of taking appropriate legal action, falsely implicated them by tampering with official records to fabricate evidence, and the constables were accused of harboring and smuggling contraband.
On the basis of these reports, the appellants were tried at the Security Corps Summary, convicted under the BSF Act and discharged from service on 5 May 2009. Their appeal was rejected by the force’s appeal body.
In its order dated September 8, 2025, the high court said there was “sufficient material to reach a prima facie conclusion” that an in-depth investigation was required in the matter. It found that the discrepancies and surrounding circumstances raise legitimate suspicions of tampering with records, noting that two Roznamcha (daily diaries) books for the same day and incident were submitted in different proceedings.
Published – 07 March 2026 21:05 IST
