11 police post in-charges shifted

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, August 12

Cracking the whip on in-charges of 11 police posts, the Patiala SSP has ordered that “henceforth, no local rank ASI, who originally is ranked as head constable, will be posted at any police post.” 

The SSP has ordered their immediate transfers and placed them at the disposal of SP (Headquarters) for further posting. 

“I have ordered their immediate transfers as these officers cannot register NDPS cases as they are junior-rung officials and thus, there is no point posting them at such posts,” said    Patiala SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu. “These officers will also not be posted at the police stations where they are registered as residents,” he further said. 

Sources said the next in line could be some sub-inspectors and inspectors who are posted as SHOs, as many of them were continuing at their place of posting in violation of the Punjab Police Act, 2008. “Political interference in the Chief Minister’s home town is the reason for such officers managing their postings despite being ineligible for the same,” said sources. 

Officials confirmed that some tainted officers, who are facing the charges of corruption and are under scanner for their links with the unlawful elements, still continue as SHOs at important police stations. “A couple of sub-inspectors, who can only be posted as additional SHOs, continue as SHOs at these police stations as no other SHO has been posted there. These sub-inspectors continue to run the police station and use the SHO office because of their political links,” they said. 

Further, some non-district cadre policemen continue to serve at plum postings in district despite the orders of the DGP, Punjab, who had written several times against it, the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) cadre officers, are posted as SHOs in the district.

In 2012, the then DGP had “discouraged postings from one cadre to another” and had ordered all SSPs and Commissioners to make sure that no such officer gets a posting as an SHO.

However, in several districts, the PAP cadre officials continue as SHOs against norms as politicians support them. Sources say all such officers were sent back to their parent cadre in 2012, but a handful of them returned back as SHOs following orders from their political masters.

In his orders dated May 10, 2012, the then DGP had written a letter to all SSPs and commissioners saying: “To implement the cadre structure as laid down in the Punjab Police Act, 2008, and to strengthen the command and control structure of the district police, it has been decided that attachment from one cadre to another shall be strongly discouraged.”

“No official on attachment from armed battalions or any other cadre to the district police shall be posted as SHO of police station or in-charge of a police post”. “In case officials already posted as SHOs are not as per the above guidelines, then the same may be replaced immediately with suitable officials fulfilling the above guidelines itself,” the order stipulated.