Punjab Congress on Tuesday alleged that the affidavit filed by Punjab Government in the Supreme Court on March 25 with regard to the security cover provided by Punjab Police to politicians was grossly erroneous and misleading.
Although the Punjab Police had claimed that 1,294 protectees had been allocated 4,120 security personnel at a monthly cost of approximately Rs15.69 crore, the fact was that many more had been provided security by the State Government and had not been mentioned in the list submitted to the Apex Court, alleged Congress leader and former Bholath MlA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
He added, “The list also mentions that apart from this, 20 sections of CRPF and four sections of CISF are deployed by the Centre, and paid for by them. It is noteworthy that there are only 1,820 policemen for traffic duty in Punjab, while an alarming 5,000 ordinary citizens die due to road accidents annually.”
“A close look at the affidavit and allocation of security to different people clearly indicated gross misuse of authority by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and other influential persons for self and the ruling SAD-BJP combine, throwing to winds all so-called norms of threat perception, public safety and security of its ordinary citizens,” he stated.
Khaira said, “It is astonishing to note that only one security person each is provided to the Punjab and Haryana High Court judges and only one each to the additional sessions judge, CJM and their subordinates working in the field to implement the rule of law and constitution.
On the other hand, those convicted for heinous crimes such as MlA Jagir Kaur enjoy ‘Y’ category security with 11 policemen and an escort vehicle and the same goes for another convicted SAD MlA Tota Singh.
This only shows the utterly faulty threat assessment mechanism adopted by the State Government.”
Khaira said that the inclusion of the name of deceased MP Balbir Singh which was mentioned on page 50 of the affidavit with two security policemen showed that review of security had not been undertaken as claimed in the affidavit.
He alleged that KD Singh, Rajya Sabha MP from Chattisgarh and living in Chandigarh had been allocated security due to his proximity with top Punjab police brass. Rajinder Gupta, vice-chairman, Punjab Planning Board, who was virtually absent from any official working, enjoyed eight policemen as status symbol due to political connections.
Similarly, Yuvraj Bhupinder Singh, son-in-law of SAD MlA Jagir Kaur, who also resides at her residence, had two policemen, which was totally under political pressure.
Former MlA and Punjab assembly Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and his son Ravi Kahlon had been provided 14 policemen and escort vehicles, former MlA Sucha Singh langah was given 11 policemen and escort vehicles, former MlA Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, 10 policemen with escort vehicle, Rajya Sabha MP Balwinder Singh Bhunder and his son Dilraj Singh were given 16 policemen with escort vehicles, former MlA Gurdas Singh Badal, whose term ended in 2002, enjoyed a security cover of 10 policemen, while other MlAs of the previous term, 2007-2012, were provided with only one security person.