On leave, Punjab DGP VK Bhawra 'served notice'

Jupinderjit Singh

Chandigarh, August 31

The tussle for the post of the Punjab DGP is turning bitter with the Punjab Government learnt to have issued a show-cause notice to DGP VK Bhawra, who is on leave, for “not taking timely preventive measures on certain intelligence alerts”.

Bhawra had proceeded on leave on July 4, 36 days after singer Sidhu Moosewala’s was killed on May 29. Though sources said a notice had been issued, the officials concerned did not confirm it. They, however, said Bhawra had not extended his leave. If he assumes office on September 4, it would be an embarrassing situation for the government, which had specially posted DGP Gaurav Yadav as the officiating DGP.

The sources said the government was upset with DGP Bhawra for the way the police handled the RPG attack on the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters at Mohali on May 9. DGP Bhawra did not respond to phone calls and messages by this reporter. Punjab police spokesperson Sukhchain Gill also did not respond to calls.