Major police reshuffle in Punjab after terror attack

The Punjab government on Wednesday ordered the transfer of 31 senior police officers, a move being seen as a fallout of the July 27 terror attack by Pakistani terrorists on Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district.

The transferred officers include five additional directors general of police (ADGPs) and eight district police chiefs.

ADGP I.P.S. Sahota will now hold charge of the state's security wing. ADGP (security and law and order) Dinkar Gupta has been transferred as ADGP-welfare.

ADGP Rohit Chaudhary will now head the law and order wing. ADGPs C.S.R. Reddy and V.K. Bhawra were also transferred.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) of border range (Amritsar) Ishwar Chander has been posted to the Bathinda zone. He has been replaced in the border zone by IGP Lok Nath Angra.

B.K. Bawa has been transferred to IGP Jalandhar zone from the security wing. IGP Bathinda zone Paramraj Singh will be the new police commissioner in Ludhiana in place of Pramod Ban. IGP Gaurav Yadav has been made IGP headquarters in Chandigarh.

Arpit Shukla will be IGP security while L.K. Yadav will be IGP of Punjab Armed Police at Jalandhar.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) border range (Amritsar) A.K. Mittal has been shifted to the Ludhiana range. Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh will be the new DIG for Amritsar border range.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Harpreet Singh will be the new district police chief in Batala, replacing Inderbir Singh.

R.K. Bakshi will be the new SSP at Pathankot. Other districts that have got new SSPs include Fatehgarh Sahib, Faridkot, Mansa, Hoshiarpur, Moga and Kapurthala.

The transfers were affected after the return of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the state home minister, from a tour of eastern European countries.

Punjab Police was able to neutralise three terrorists from Pakistan after an 11-hour gun battle in Dinanagar town in Gurdaspur district on July 27. Seven people, including a police officer and three home guard personnel, were killed in the attack.