Patiala, May 13: Almost a week after the Patiala police suspended Inspector Gurpreet Bhinder, he has been sent back to his parent department and relieved from the District Police.
Bhinder, who was posted as SHO, Julka police station, was suspended “with immediate effect” for allegedly appointing head constable Gagandeep Singh as gunman for now suspended DSP Daljit Virk in an “unauthorised manner”.
A formal letter by the Additional DGP (admin) states that Bhinder, who was temporarily attached with the district cadre, has been shifted back to his parent cadre. The PAP officer had managed to get temporarily attached with Patiala district despite the DGP’s orders that prohibited PAP officers from being posted in any district.
“A departmental probe has been ordered against Gurpreet Bhinder to be conducted by an IPS officer in Patiala and already a notice has been issued to him as to why three months of salary should not be deducted from the suspended SHO for providing a police station head constable to someone illegally,” said SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu. “We received orders from the headquarters last evening and Bhinder has been relieved and asked to join back his parent cadre,” said Sidhu.
In violation of the Punjab Police Act, 2008, and the orders of the DGP, PAP-cadre officers still continue to be posted as SHOs. In 2012, the then DGP had “discouraged postings from one cadre to another”. “Using political clout, these officers continue to bag plum postings and later indulge in obliging politicians and others,” said a cop.
The action against Bhinder comes after controversial Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was booked by the Barnala police in a criminal case against him and five police personnel, after a video showing the singer shooting at a private firing range owned by a cop went viral on social media.
The cases were registered on the directions of Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta, who also ordered immediate suspension of DSP (Headquarters) Sangrur, Daljit Virk, pending inquiry, on charges of delinquency in duty. Meanwhile, two national-level shooters — Karam Singh Lehal and Jang Sher — have also been named in the FIR against Moosewala.
