The Punjab government has suspended six more policemen, apart from a superintendent of police, for alleged dereliction of duty in connection with the security lapse during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state in January 2022, PTI reported on Sunday.
The suspension of Bathinda Superintendent of Police Gurbinder Singh was reported on Saturday.
Besides Gurbinder Singh, the others placed under suspension are two Deputy Superintendents of Police Parson Singh and Jagdish Kumar, Inspectors Jatinder Singh and Balwinder Singh, Sub-Inspector Jaswant Singh and Assistant Sub-Inspector Ramesh Kumar.
The seven suspended policemen have been named in a charge sheet filed under Section 8 of the Punjab Civil Services Rule (punishment and appeal) of 1970, according to PTI.
On January 5, 2022, Modi had to abort his visit to Punjab’s Ferozepur, which led to a massive controversy. His convoy was stuck on a flyover for over 15 minutes as protestors blocked the road to Hussainiwala village in the district. The Centre had described it as a “major security lapse.”
However, Charanjit Singh Channi, the chief minister of Punjab at the time, had dismissed the claim. He had said there was no threat to the prime minister’s security and that Modi had a sudden change of plan.
A report submitted by a Supreme Court-appointed panel in August 2022 had blamed the Ferozpur senior superintendent of police, among other officials, of negligence in duty. Gurbinder Singh was the superintendent of police (operations) in Ferozepur at the time of the security lapse.
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