The Punjab government on Saturday ordered the suspension of Amritsar Rural Police senior superintendent of police (SSP) Maninder Singh for his alleged failure to take action against gangsters.
“In exercise of powers conferred under clause (a) of sub-rule (i) of rule 3 of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, the Governor of Punjab is pleased to place Maninder Singh, IPS, under suspension with immediate effect,” read the order issued by the home department of Punjab government.
As per the order, issued by Alok Shekhar, additional chief secretary, home affairs, during the suspension period, Singh’s headquarters will be the office of the Punjab director general of police, and he cannot leave the headquarters without obtaining permission of the competent authority. During his suspension, he will be entitled to subsistence allowance as permissible under rules.
Issuing a statement, chief minister Bhagwant Mann said any kind of negligence while taking action against gangsters will not be tolerated at any cost.
Even as the CM said that the action had been taken against the IPS officer for failing to act against gangsters, he did not specify any instance.
The IPS officer’s suspension comes a day after the ruling AAP’s candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu emerged victorious in the Tarn Taran bypoll by a margin of 12,091 votes.
Sandhu defeated Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) nominee Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa, who finished second with 30,558 votes, bagging 25.96% of the vote share. The Congress and BJP candidates, on the other hand, even failed to secure their security deposits, with a dismal 12.8% and 4.3% vote share, respectively.
The AAP and Congress have alleged that Randhawa is the mother-in-law of gangster Amritpal Singh Bath, who is said to have played an active role in her campaign by rallying support. One of Randhawa’s daughters, Kanchanpreet Kaur, was also booked for poll code violations by uploading campaign videos on social media on the polling day (November 11).
Earlier on November 8, the Election Commission (EC) of India had directed the suspension of Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police (SSP) Dr Ravjot Kaur Grewal with immediate effect.
The stern action just three days before the Tarn Taran bypoll after SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal met the EC-appointed observer and submitted a written complaint of misuse of power by the SSP to help the ruling AAP in Punjab.
A SAD delegation had also met the chief electoral officer of Punjab in Chandigarh and submitted the complaint. The SAD alleged that the AAP government was using the state police to influence the by-election process.
In their memorandum, the SAD leaders claimed that party workers and leaders from Tarn Taran had been “forcibly detained” by police officials ahead of the bypoll. They alleged that the official machinery was being misused to target the SAD candidate, her family members and SAD supporters.
Badal also alleged “surveillance activities” were being carried out on Randhawa and her daughter Kanchanpreet Kaur. He claimed that two policemen in plainclothes were recently caught following Kanchanpreet and later identified themselves as members of the police’s Crime Investigation Agency (CIA).
Following the meeting, the chief electoral officer forwarded the complaint to the ECI following which the SSP was placed under suspension.
Grewal was posted as the Tarn Taran SSP in September. Before her suspension, two DSPs – Jagjeet Singh and Sukhbir Singh – were also shifted by the Election Commission.