Won't Tolerate Indiscipline in Police Force, Says Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday took serious note of the alleged dissension among the top brass of the Punjab Police, saying he would not tolerate any indiscipline in the force.

The CM also discussed the issue with Home Secretary NS Kalsi, DGP Suresh Arora and CPS to CM Suresh Kumar and directed them to look into the matter and suggest suitable action to resolve the same.

In a statement, the chief minister directed the home secretary and the DGP to ensure that all investigations in the drugs cases were carried out impartially, without fear or favour.

His government was committed not only to the elimination of drugs but also to stringent punishment, under the law, to those responsible for destroying the state's future generation with this menace, he asserted.

Singh's statement came a day after Director General of Police (Human Resource Development) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya accused DGP Suresh Arora and DGP (Intelligence) Dinkar Gupta of trying to drag his name in the suicide case of the son of a former Chief Khalsa Dewan president in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The Chief Khalsa Diwan is a century-old charitable-cum-educational organisation.

Chattopadhyaya had also accused two DGP-rank officers of "targeting" him in order to "disable" him from conducting an inquiry into the complicity of SSP, Moga, Raj Jit Singh and an inspector, who has been dismissed from service, in a drug trafficking case.

Singh was of the view that any grievance of any member of the police force, including those against colleagues, should be routed through the well-established administrative procedures and channels laid down for the purpose.

There were well laid down hierarchies that needed to be stringently adhered to, if the police force was to function efficaciously, he added.

The chief minister said as a former member of a uniformed force, he was of the opinion that any act of indiscipline was a matter of grave concern, to be treated with seriousness.

The 80,000-strong Punjab Police force naturally looked up to its senior officers for leadership and direction, he said, adding that internal discord or friction could seriously undermine its professional and operational capabilities.

The Punjab Police, which had bravely fought militancy in the state in the 1980s and 1990s, was required to be both professional and transparent in its functioning in order to effectively deal with the various challenges on the crime and law and order front, the chief minister pointed out.

The police personnel, especially senior officers, were in the public eye at all times and needed to exercise due caution in their personal and professional conduct, Singh stressed, making it clear that he would not hesitate to take stern action, if needed, to check indiscipline.

Earlier, Punjab Congress said Singh had sought a report on the matter.

"CM Amarinder Singh has sought a report on the matter. The CM has also talked to senior officers in this regard," Punjab Congress chief spokesperson and MLA Raj Kumar Verka said, adding that the government was taking the issue seriously.

Verka described the reports indicating alleged differences among senior police officers in Punjab as "painful".

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Sukhpal Singh Khaira, on Saturday sought a CBI probe into the allegations levelled by Director General of Police (Human Resource Development) Siddharth Chattopadhyaya against two other DGP-rank officers.

"I urge Honb'le High Court to order their own monitored CBI probe into serious allegations of drugs and Benami properties against DGP level officers besides false implication of a DGP in suicide case! If a DGP can be falsely implicated what about opposition leaders n citizens (sic)?" he tweeted.

The high court had on Friday stayed the police probe against Chattopadhyaya in the suicide case.

Chattopadhyaya had sought that the investigation into the suicide case of Inderpreet Chadha, the son of former Chief Khalsa Diwan president Charanjit Singh Chadha, be transferred to the CBI or a retired judge of the high court.

Chadha had allegedly committed suicide in January in Amritsar, after he was booked for criminal intimidation, along with his father, on the complaint of a female school principal. His father's purported objectionable video clip with the principal had also gone viral on the social media.