Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has ordered the initiation of “disciplinary proceedings for major penalty” in opposition to former DGP S Chattopadhyaya and two different senior cops over the safety breach throughout Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s go to to the state in January final yr. Apart from Chattopadhyaya who has since retired, the disciplinary proceedings for main penalty might be initiated in opposition to Inderbir Singh, the then deputy inspector normal (DIG) of police of Ferozepur vary, and Harmandeep Singh Hans, the then senior superintendent of police (SSP) of Ferozepur. Official sources stated these officers could be requested to submit their responses.
According to the Home Affairs division’s communication to the Personnel division issued on Monday, Mann additionally determined that explanations be sought from Naresh Arora, the then ADGP (Law and Order), G Nageshwara Rao, the then ADGP Cyber Crime, Mukhvinder Singh Chhina, the then IGP Patiala Range, Rakesh Agrawal, the then IG Counter Intelligence and Nodal Officer, Surjeet Singh, the then DIG Faridkot, and Charanjit Singh, the then SSP Moga, as to why disciplinary proceedings shouldn’t be initiated in opposition to them as really useful within the Supreme Court-constituted inquiry committee report.
The transfer got here after the Supreme Court-appointed committee, which probed the safety breach throughout Prime Minister Modi’s go to to Punjab in January 2022, had indicted a number of state officers for lapses.
On January 5, 2022, PM Modi’s convoy was stranded on a flyover because of a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur after which he returned from Punjab with out attending any occasion, together with a rally.
The prime court docket had on January 12 final yr appointed the committee to probe the breach, saying these questions can’t be left to “one-sided inquiries” as they wanted “judicially trained independent minds” to analyze.
The Union Home Secretary had final month written to the Punjab chief secretary to submit an motion taken report on the matter. A couple of days in the past, Punjab Chief Secretary V Okay Janjua had stated that the state authorities would ship an motion taken report back to the Centre.
The chief secretary had then stated that penalties to the erring officers can embody stopping increments, demotion and within the worse case dismissal of these nonetheless in service. The safety breach forward of the Punjab meeting elections led to a significant political controversy.
