Chandigarh, May 31
The decks have been cleared for the return of Dr A.A. Siddiqui, an IPS officer of the 1968 batch, to his parent cadre of Punjab amidst speculation on his posting as the head of the Vigilance Bureau.
Dr Siddiqui went on inter-state deputation to head the Manipur police last year.
Soon after assuming power in Punjab, the Congress government decided to recall him from deputation as the Chief Minister hinted that Dr Siddiqui would head the bureau.
The Manipur Government and subsequently the Union Home Ministry accepted the request of the Punjab Government and approved the premature end of the inter-state deputation of Dr Siddiqui.
In March, after Mr S.K. Verma went on leave, Mr S.V. Singh was elevated as Director-General of Police and made Chief Director of the bureau. He was subsequently shifted and made the chief of the Home Guards and Civil Defence . On promotion as Additional Director-General of Police, Mr A.P. Pandey, replaced him.
Though the return to his parent cadre would mean that Dr Siddiqui would continue to be Additional Director-General of Police, the only consolation for him would be that he would be heading the bureau, responsible for handling all major cases , including the recruitment scam.
The Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, was recently quoted as saying that Dr Siddiqui would join his parent cadre on June 15.
Before going on deputation to Manipur, Dr Siddiqui was the ADGP-cum-Director-Principal of the Punjab Police Academy at Phillaur. At one stage he was tipped to head the Jammu and Kashmir police after Mr Gurbachan Jagat, another Punjab officer, heading the J& K police then, was elevated and made the Director-General of the Border Security Force.
