Police,admn reshuffle on cards

With SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal taking over as the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab,a major reshuffle in the civil and police set-up is on the cards.

Sources say around seven deputy commissioners and as many SSPs are likely to be transferred. The DCs who might be moved include Ludhiana DC SS Gurjar,who is already under the Punjab Vigilance scanner for corruption charges; Mohali DC Rahul Bhandari; Amritsar DC KS Pannu,who is likely to go as the Election Commission of India (ECI) has conveyed to the state government that he cannot be posted in his home town; Fatehgarh Sahib DC Surjit Dhillon; Hoshiarpur DC NK Wadhawan and Nawanshahr DC Neelkanth he is likely to go as Ludhiana DC.

Promoted from PCS,IAS officers,PS Mand,presently posted as Additional MD,Markfed; AS Mighlani,Additional Secretary (Personnel),and Depinder Singh,Punjab Mandi Board Secretary,are likely to be appointed as DCs.

Besides,the PPS and PCS officers posted in their home districts and who have completed four years at one place will also be on the transfer list; there are about 50 such officers.

The state police top brass will also be reshuffled. Patiala SSP SK Asthana,who has been in the firing line of the courts,might lose the district chief’s post and Ludhiana SSP RK Jaiswal might go as Patiala SSP,while Moga,Muktsar and Mansa,where the government had posted PPS officers as SP (Headquarters) and given them additional charge of the SSP,will get regular SSPs. It is likely that Parveen Sinha,Amritsar CID (Zonal) SP; Arpit Shukla,SP (CID),Chandigarh,and Rajeev Ahir are likely to be posted as SSPs. Ahir’s deputation to the Intelligence Bureau has also been cleared,say sources. DIG (Jalandhar Range) Narinderpal Singh will also be transferred from his home district.

Meanwhile,senior bureaucrat Vishwajit Khanna has been appointed as the Secretary to the Deputy CM. Khanna has been Registrar,Cooperative Societies, and at present holds the charge of Secretary,Civil Aviation,and Secretary,Science and Technology. Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Ajay Mahajan will go as Special Secretary to Sukhbir. Earlier,his orders were issued but later taken back. SP Singh was earlier appointed OSD to the Deputy CM; he was earlier Sukhbir’s PA.

A former baseball player and senior IAS officer,PS Aujla,Secretary,Water Supply and Sanitation,has been given additional charge of Secretary,Youth Affairs and Sports.

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The Youth Affairs and Sports Ministry is with Sukhbir,and Aujla is considered close to him.

Paramjit Singh Sandhu,the PPS officer involved in the Moga sex scandal who was arrested by the CBI,is likely to be rehabilitated and might be posted as AIG (Intelligence-Headquarters),which is a sensitive post.

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