Hours after seven birs of Guru Granth Sahib were partially burnt in a fire at a gurdwara in Aulakh village of Muktsar district, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh reshuffled four top police officials before noon today. Usually, transfers are made late in the evening.
Three of these officers had got fresh postings just two weeks ago. Sources said the CM wanted to make it clear that even the top brass would face the music if such incidents kept recurring.
DGP (Law and Order) HS Dhillon, who has had a long tenure on this post, was transferred as DGP, Internal Vigilance and Human Rights. ADGP (Jails) Rohit Chaudhary will now handle the Law and Order Department.
Chaudhary had headed the Special Investigation Team probing the Dinanagar terror attack. He had been shifted as ADGP (Railways) before the probe was completed.
ADGP (Administration) Gaurav Yadav, who was ADGP (Intelligence) till two weeks ago, will head the Jails Department.
ADGP Inderpreet Singh Sahota, who was the Director, Bureau of Investigation, during the SAD-BJP rule, would be the new ADGP (Administration). In the first reshuffle by the Congress government, he had been posted as ADGP, Internal Vigilance and Human Rights.
SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said here on Monday that there had been an increase in the number of “heinous acts of sacrilege against Guru Granth Sahib” since the Congress took charge.
“A vast majority of such cases which took place during the SAD-BJP tenure had been quickly traced and dealt with. Only a few proved to be difficult…
Even in those cases, we had picked up significant leads and were on the verge of a breakthrough when the elections were announced. Before demitting office, we handed these leads to the new government… But they seem to be sitting over these,” Sukhbir said in a statement.
Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh has summoned members of the Aulakh gurdwara’s managing committee on April 17 over the bir burning incident. Those summoned include gurdwara committee president Gurdeep Singh, vice-president Surjit Singh, committee members Harbhajan Singh and Makhan Singh, and priest Kirpal Singh. Giani Gurbachan Singh said: “It’s the responsibility of the gurdwara body to adopt safety measures. Negligence would not be spared.”