Pb CM terms shifting of IPS officer by EC 'biased', to seek review

Calling the EC's order of shifting IPS officer Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, probing the 2015 sacrilege incidents, as "biased", the Punjab government Tuesday decided to approach the poll panel to seek a review of the decision.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh dubbed the Election Commission's order of relieving the Inspector General rank officer of his charge as a "direct interference in the investigations" into the police firing incidents.

He further said that he will ask the commission to reconsider its decision in the "interest of justice and Constitutional propriety".

Following a complaint lodged by the Akali Dal against the IPS officer, the ECI had directed Punjab government to divest him of his present post for "violating" the model code of conduct.

Besides being member of the Special Investigation Team, probing 2015 sacrilege and police firing incidents, Singh was also holding the charge of IGP Crime and additional charge of the organised crime control unit (OCCU).

Acting on the directions of the EC, the Punjab government on Monday posted him as IG Counter Intelligence (Amritsar).

Though the EC order did not specifically mention about divesting him of as SIT member, a senior government functionary in Punjab government Tuesday said the officer was relieved of this charge as well.

"The Akalis had been trying unsuccessfully to scuttle the investigations into the sacrilege and subsequent firing cases that took place during their tenure and were now resorting to desperate measures to save their skin," Amarinder Singh alleged in a statement released here.

Claiming that the entire premise of the EC order was based on a "flimsy" complaint, the chief minister said, "It was obvious the complainant (SAD) was running scared at the thought of exposure by the SIT and had taken refuge in the SAD alliance with the BJP."