Punjab DGP VK Bhawra applies for two-month leave

Chandigarh, July 1

Punjab is all set to have a new head of the police force with the incumbent DGP, VK Bhawra, applying for two-month leave from July 5 onwards. Two days ago, Bhawra had applied for a Central deputation.

Approval a mere formality

The state government is yet to approve the leave application, but sources said it was just a formality. The government has not been happy with the police performance.

DGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, who heads the state Prisons Department, besides the Special Task Force against Drugs, and DGP Gaurav Yadav, who was handpicked by the Chief Minister as his Special Principal Secretary, are front runners for the post.

The state can appoint an officiating DGP for a maximum of six months by giving charge to a DGP-rank official. Within this period, the government has to send a panel of eligible officers to the Union Public Service Commission, which will shortlist three on the basis of seniority and merit. The state then chooses one of the three officers.

The DGP was under pressure over the law and order situation in the state. The terror attack on the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali and later the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala had pushed the state police into a corner.

The Punjab Police have also failed to catch the three persons who had fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Intelligence Headquarters though it nabbed the conspirators of the crime.

Punjab has already witnessed much politics over the post of the DGP in the recent past. Since September last year, the state has already seen three heads of the police force. In January this year, VK Bhawra was posted as the DGP.