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Friday,
May 10,
2002, Chandigarh, India  
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CM’s no to
Gujarat plea Chandigarh, May 9 This is the second time that Punjab has said no to Gujarat. The last time was during the quake that had rocked Gujarat. At that time a few companies had accompanied various religious and voluntary organisations for organising community kitchens there, but the request for deployment of the Punjab police in quake-affected areas was turned down because of other commitments. Talking to The Tribune over telephone the Punjab Chief Minister said the new Security Adviser to the Gujarat government, Mr K.P.S. Gill, had talked to the Home Secretary to request him for the deployment of a reserve battalion of the Punjab police in Gujarat. “The matter was brought to my notice. After due consideration we have come to the conclusion that we have to say no to Gujarat because of our own commitments and requirements. We do not have force to spare. But since we have only one battalion in reserve available with us we are unable to respond positively to the request,” he said, maintaining that “we want to concentrate in those pockets where incidents of crime have taken place during the past few days. There have been serious incidents in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib during the past 24 hours. We have a fairly large force deployed along the Jammu and Kashmir border and also along the international border to check infiltration from across the border. More than 14,000 policemen, who have been withdrawn from security duty, are also being used by the district police forces in maintenance of law and order. “We also have municipal elections in the state on May 19,” the Chief Minister said. Sources in the Punjab Government reveal that the Director-General of Police, Mr M.S. Bhullar, had promised to send a battalion to Gujarat on a verbal request from Mr K.P.S. Gill. 
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Free hand for KPS Gill New Delhi, May 9 It has also asked the former Punjab Police chief to be in direct touch with the Union Home Ministry and has assured all possible help from the Centre to deal with the situation in the state. An assurance in this regard has been given to Mr Gill by none other than Union Home Minister L K Advani, sources said. According to sources, the former Punjab Police chief would remain in direct touch with Mr Advani and keep him posted about the situation in Gujarat and the various steps initiated to bring the state to normalcy. The Home Minister had, however, assured Mr Modi that Mr Gill would not usurp powers enjoyed by the Gujarat Police chief and other senior authorities in the state, sources said. Meanwhile, the CRPF has despatched additional four companies to Gujarat from its Gurgaon unit. The CRPF has already deployed 17 companies (nine CRPF and 8 Rapid Action Force) in Gujarat to provide much needed security in riot-hit areas in the state. The Ministry of Home Affairs has assured the state government to provide more central forces, if needed. |
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