Opposing the installation of portraits of Punjab Chief Minister and local legislator by the youth Congress activists in two police stations in Sangrur a day before, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday asked the Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh to order an immediate probe into the same.
Raising the issue, the former minister an senior leader Daljit Singh Cheema, who also forwarded pictures of youth Congress activists boasting about this “achievement” on social media along with his representation to the Chief Secretary, said that it was shocking that pictures of Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Sangrur MlA Vijay Inder Singla had been installed by Congressmen in the offices of SHOs of the city and Sadar police stations of Sangrur in the presence of the SHOs.
SAD leader asked the Chief Secretary to order removal of the portraits immediately besides issuing directions to the civil and police administration about the code for installation for such photographs.
In his letter to the chief secretary, the SAD leader said that the incident of installation of the pictures proved that the politicization of the State police was complete. “It also shows that the Congress party has taken over the thanas and is virtually running them,” he said.
Speaking about the illegality of Congress workers installing pictures of their leaders in police stations, Cheema said that no one could object to the installation of the CM’s portrait but it should be installed by the administration and not Congress workers.
He said that there was no provision to install the portrait of the local MlA in police stations. “If one were to follow this logic, the portraits of SAD and even AAP legislators should be installed in all police stations in their respective constituencies,” he added.
Explaining further, the Akali leader said that the people often visited police stations to register complaints, which could be against the local MlA or even his close supporters. “What justice can they expect if the picture of the local MlA is put above the head of the SHOIJ” he asked adding that the Punjab police was a professional force which should not only be allowed to remain fair but should also appear to be acting fairly always.