Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal today demanded registration of a criminal case against DGP S Chattopadhyay for taking orders from criminals while functioning as the State Police chief.The SAD President was referring to an expose in a leading daily during a brief campaign stop for party Mohali candidate Parminder Singh Sohana. He said a tape had surfaced which had the DGP talking to a proclaimed offender in the Bhola drug case. “During the course of this conversation the PO instructed the DGP regarding transfer and posting of certain police officers, shifting of notorious prisoners from one jail to another and creating an illegal detention centre in Mohali”.Asserting that S Chattopadhyay’s cordial relations with drug baron Jagdish Bhola were now also out in the open, Mr Badal said “it is now also clear that this police officer was working in league with drug smugglers as well as well as tainted police officers. Due action should be taken against him as per law”.
Mr Badal said now it was also clear as to why chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi had gone out of his way to appoint Chattopadhyay as the State DGP even though he was not eligible to hold this post. “Channi is also mixed up in these illegal activities which was also proved by the huge recovery of cash and gold from his nephew’s house. It is also clear that he was privy to Chattopadhyay’s affairs and due action should also be taken against him”.Mr Badal also questioned why Pradesh Congress President Navjot Sidhu was silent after the damming evidence against an officer who was personally chosen by him to register false cases against the top Akali leadership. “Sidhu should explain why he allowed an officer who was earlier also known to pursue personal vendettas to lead the State police and why he kept quite about the illegal activities of Chattopadhyay”.The SAD President demanded an impartial probe into the tape recordings which had come in the public sphere. “This case has far reaching consequences vis a vis the drug trade in the region. Besides the DGP and his political masters there are a number of other black sheep who are involved in drug trafficking. They should also identified, booked and put behind bars after a thorough probe”, he added.