Chandigarh, November 7
Even as the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, made a statement today saying no security cover had been provided to Mr Jagat Singh, son of the Union External Affairs Minister, Mr Natwar Singh, the presence of a Punjab Police gunman around Mr Jagat Singh is a mystery.

Sources in the police said in one incident, Gurjit Singh, a Punjab Police constable, fired from his weapon while accompanying Mr Jagat Singh to Manali on January 1, 2004. The constable was subsequently placed under suspension.

According to the records of the Security wing of the Punjab Police, the name of Mr Jagat Singh does not figure among the 1,200 protectees of the state police. However, one or two guards are usually with him, confirm senior officials. Or is he using the guards provided to his mother, who is the sister of the Punjab Chief Minister? Mr Jagat Singh's mother has been provided security as per the state government's norms, said a police official here today. The name of Mr Andaleeb Singh, a close associate of Mr Jagat Singh, also does not figure in the official list of protectees.

Narrating the Manali episode, a police official said Mr Jagat Singh, who is also an MLA in Rajasthan, reportedly asked a few hoodlums to stop teasing girls at a New Year’s party when a scuffle ensued. The policeman accompanying him fired from his weapon and was subsequently suspended. The complainant in the case was Mr Sunder Singh Thakur, former vice-chairman of the zila parishad and then senior vice-president of the Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress.

Mr Thakur and Mr Jagat Singh also reportedly had an argument. A few youths of the area attacked Mr Jagat Singh. The gunman tried to save Mr Jagat Singh and provided him with an opportunity to escape. The policeman, who was beaten up, was later admitted to hospital in Manali.

Senior police officers maintain that at present nearly 4,000 police personnel have been deployed on security duty with various persons, including ministers, MLAs, former ministers, former MLAs, industrialists, bureaucrats and judges.