M A I N   N E W S

Punjab Vigilance chief shifted
New SSPs for 17 districts
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 14
The chief of the high-profile Punjab Vigilance Bureau, Mr A.P. Pandey, has been shifted while 17 districts, including the police districts of Punjab, will have new SSPs in a major reshuffle ordered by the state government here today.

Mr Pandey has been posted as Additional Director-General of Police, Administration, which is not considered a high-profile or “independent-functioning” post. He has been replaced by Mr Mohd Izhar Alam. The registration of a case against a Ludhiana-based PCS officer by the Vigilance Bureau had triggered a controversy. Mr Pandey had led the “fight against corruption” announced by Capt Amarinder Singh in 2002. The bureau had registered cases against senior Akali leaders, including the former Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal. Removing him at this juncture has raised eyebrows among senior police officers.

The orders issued by the newly appointed Home Secretary, Mr B.C. Gupta, also said that the new district of Mohali had been included in the Patiala Range of the police.

The state government has also shifted Mr Mohd Mustafa, IG, Training, and posted him as IG, Border Zone (looking after the work of the revenue districts of Amritsar and Gurdaspur). The IG, Headquarters, Mr Suresh Arora, will hold additional charge as IG, Training. Mr Hardeep Dhillon will be IG, Jalandhar (supervise the work of DIG, Ludhiana, which includes the revenue districts of Ropar and Ludhiana). The IG, Lokpal, Mr Rajpal Meena, will also look after the work of the IG, Railways, in addition to his own duties.

Mr Ishwar Chander will be the new DIG, Ferozepore, replacing Mr Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, who has been shifted as DIG, Border Range. Mr H.S. Randhawa is the new DIG, Patiala Range, while Mr R.P. Mittal goes as DIG, Administration, IRB, Patiala. Mr B.K. Garg will replace him while Mr Sharad Satya Chauhan will be the new Joint Director, PPA, Phillaur.

This is the first major shake-up in the police in the past two years. The government decided to appoint new SSPs in 17 districts.

The SSPs who have been shifted to other districts and their new places of posting as SSP are: Mr Varinder Kumar — Bathinda; Mr A.S. Rai — Ludhiana; Mr Arun Pal Singh — Faridkot; Mr Surinder Pal Singh — Nawanshahr; Mr Pramod Ban — Patiala; Mr Kapil Dev — Ropar; Mr Sudhanshu. S. Srivastava — Amritsar; Mohd Faiyaz Farooqui — Khanna; Mr G. Nageshwara Rao — Muktsar; and Mr L.K. Yadav — Batala.

The other new SSPs are: Mr Aprit Shukla — Ferozepore; Mr Param Raj Singh — Gurdaspur; Mr Gautam Cheema — Majitha; Mr S.K. Asthana — Barnala; Mr Shiv Kumar Verma — Fathegarh Sahib; Mr R.N. Dhoke — Hoshiarpur; and Mr Parveen Kumar Sinha — Taran Tarn.

The SSPs who have been shifted out and posted elsewhere are: Mr Narinder Pal Singh — Joint Director, Vigilance Bureau; Mr R.P.S. Brar — AIG, Armaments; Dr Jatinder Jain — Deputy Director (Indoor), PPA, Phillaur; Mrs Vibhu Raj — SP, Intelligence, Chandigarh; Mr Lok Nath — SP, CID, Chandigarh; and Mr Paramjit Singh Grewal — AIG, Traffic.

Mr Neelabh Kishore, SP, City, Ludhiana, has been posted as Commandant, 36th Battalion, PAP, with additional charge as Senior Superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala.