Accolades & embarrassment went hand in hand for police

Jupinderjit Singh

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Chandigarh, December 25

A crackdown on Khalistani groups and drug smugglers remained the hallmark of the Punjab Police in 2023 while indictment of around 20 cops from the rank of an Assistant Sub-Inspector to the Director General of Police in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security lapse embarrassed the force.

Highs

• Massive crackdown on Amritpal Singh-led Khalistani sympathisers in March
• Specific operations launched against gangsters and drug peddlers
• More visibility/presence of cops on the roads

lows

• Indictment of around 20 cops in the Prime Minister’s security lapse case
• Sloppy investigation into 43,000 calls made from the Ferozepur Central Jail
• Failure to nab drug-tainted AIG Raj Jit Singh

The police succeeded in arresting self-styled Khalistani sympathiser Amritpal Singh and his aides in March after a massive operation. Towards the end of the year, cops carried out 12 encounters against gangsters, killing four of them. Even the questions were raised on police-drug smugglers’ nexus. Additional Inspector General of Police Raj Jit Singh was booked on charges of helping smugglers and drug-tainted dismissed cop Inderjit Singh for extorting money from gullible persons. At the same time, failure of the police to arrest Raj Jit remained a talking point.

The Prisons Department was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The government shifted ADGP B Chandra Shekhar, head, Prisons Department, for the controversial interview of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi allegedly from the Bathinda Central Jail.

A SIT, however, said the interview was not conducted at any Punjab jail or the police lock-up. But embarrassment came on December 23, when the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered registration of an FIR for the interview instead of upholding the inquiry report.

The Prisons Department suffered another jolt towards the end of the year when it came to light that three drug smugglers had made more than 43,000 calls from Ferozepur jail via two cellphones. While seven jail officials face probe for dereliction of duty or possible collusion with the smugglers, two senior police officials were suspended for their failure to probe the case.

The Vigilance Bureau focused on ministers in the previous government (2017-2022). It booked and arrested seven leaders for alleged corrupt practices, but towards the end, the department seemed to have gone slow against them. There were allegations of the politicisation of the department with AAP in talks with the Congress over a national alliance for the 2024 Lok Sabha poll.

The biggest failure has been to initiate a probe into the multi-crore Punjab Alkalies and Chemical Ltd (PACL) disinvestment scam. It’s alleged that an IAS officer’s family and private businessmen bought the PACL for Rs 40.98 crore whereas the market price was around Rs 1,000 crore.

The Vigilance started a probe but feigned helplessness when neither the government nor the private company shared records of the deal with agency throughout the year. In total, the Vigilance booked 130 persons, including 69 cops for corruption.