Lok Sabha elections: Election Commission orders transfer of 5 SSPs in Punjab

SSPs of Bathinda, Fazilka, Jalandhar (Rural), Pathankot, and Malerkotla transferred; Bathinda SSP Harmanbir Singh Gill was removed from the post as he is related to Congress MP from Khadoor Sahib, Jasbir Singh Gill (Dimpa)

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The Commission has made it clear that no officer would be put on field duty who is related to any political party. (Representational/ PTI Photo)

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday ordered the transfer of senior superintendents of police of five districts in Punjab, including Bathinda SSP Harmanbir Singh Gill, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

Bathinda SSP Harmanbir Singh Gill, the brother of Congress MP from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha seat, Jasbir Singh Gill (Dimpa), as well as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s brother Sushanta Biswa Sarma, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Sonitpur, were removed given “their kinship or familial association with the elected political representatives”.

“The officials in these two districts have been transferred as pre-emptive measures to dispel any apprehensions of administration being biased or perceived to be compromised,” said the ECI in a statement.

Others who have been transferred in Punjab are Fazilka SSP Varinder Singh Brar, Malerkotla SSP Harkamalpreet Singh, Pathankot SSP Daljinder Singh Dhillon, and Jalandhar (Rural) SSP Mukhwinder Singh Bhullar as they are Punjab Police Service (PPS) officers.

According to the Election Commission, IPS officers will be posted in these Punjab districts. The Commission has asked the Punjab Government to submit a list of three IPS officers for these posts out of which it will select one officer for each district.

Apart from these officers, the ECI also transferred 13 non-IAS and IPS officers holding the posts of district magistrates (DMs), SPs, and SSPs, in Gujarat, Punjab, Odisha, and West Bengal.

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