Arrested IG Umranangal no stranger to controversies

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 18

IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal, who was arrested by the Special Investigation Team probing the Behbal Kalan firing on Monday, has never been away from controversies ever since he was inducted into the Punjab Police as a DSP in 1987 on compassionate grounds.

The 1995-batch IPS officer is the son of three-time Akali MLA late Jiwan Singh and was employed after his brother was gunned down by terrorists. Despite facing many controversies, the senior cop has managed plum field postings throughout his career so far.

In 2012, when the government transferred him from the post of Ferozepur DIG for mishandling a minor’s abduction case, he bagged a prize posting as the DIG (border range), from where he was later suspended for creating indiscipline. The suspension came close on the heels of the murder of a policeman in Amritsar by a SAD leader.

Another major case dates back to 1994, when Umranangal was posted as Ropar DSP. On August 13, 1994, three-four policemen went to the house of one Jagir Singh in Kala Afghana village and allegedly took away his son Sukhpal Singh, saying that he was required by the Majitha district police. However, Sukhpal never returned. A few days later, newspapers reported that terrorist Gurnam Singh Bandala had been killed in an encounter by Umranangal and his team. After several years, the family of Sukhpal learnt that Bandala had in fact been caught alive and Sukhpal had been killed in his place. The report of this case is yet to be completed. Also, in January 2017, Umranangal, the then Patiala SSP, was among seven people held guilty by a local court for “registering a false rape case” Besides, he was accused of extortion by Bollywood singer Daler Mehandi in 2003-04.