LUDHIANA: The Punjab police during the past few months beat up at different places five Congress(I) legislatures without any reaction from chief minister Beant Singh. This was revealed here by a top police source.
This source also revealed that the police chief K.P.S.Gill frequently insults ministers by refusing to meet them when they go to his residence to offer him “congratulations” on maintaining the law and order, Most often these ministers go to his residence after fixing up an appointment with Gill. The practice normally followed by the police chief is to encourage the ministers to come to his residence but when they reach there he asks his private secretary to accept flowers from them and take down any recommendation seeking transfer of a constable or other junior official from the visitors. This calculated insult is pocketed by the ministers.
Among this distinguished group are Harbans Singh Sidhu, minister for animal husbandry, Surinder Kapur, minister of state for irrigation and power and Maninder Singh Bitta, minister of state for public health. Some time ago the Beant Singh ministry’s senior minister Harcharan Singh Brar was asked at a public function by KP.S.Gill through a D.S.P. to vacate a sofa set on which he was seated for another visitor. Brar smilingly obliged Gill.
In another incident, Gill directed the police chief of Tam Taran district to arrest transport minister Jagix Singh and publicly parade him through the streets of Tam Taran for protecting and giving shelter to a Sikh militant. When the police chief conveyed the message to the minister, he promptly gave out the address of the militant. The police then raided the militant’s place and killed him, When some ministers complained to the chief minister about the naughty behavior of the police chief, Beant Singh gave them a short shrift and asked them not to go to the police chief again. The chief minister is said to be upset at the attitude of Gill for claiming all the credit for the law and order situation. At a recent function organized by the Hind Samachar group at Jalandhar, the chief minister felt deeply hurt when speaker after speaker ignored him and gave all the compliments to K PS.Gill. The Hind Samachar functions which are a monthly feature are viewed by political observers as a barometer of the Hindu thinking on the Punjab developments.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 19, 1993
