Undercover Officers

In the absence of any specific guidelines, over 7,000 policemen are engaged in VIP security duties. That includes guarding Punjab police officers.

‘‘There is nothing like an entitlement,’’ Gill points out. ‘‘It’s only the quantum of threat that decides the quantum of security required by a particular officer.’’

There are about 50 Punjab police officers (including 23 SSPs, AIGs, IGs, ADGPs and DGPs) and 1,000 policemen are engaged for their security. That’s 20 men for every officer.

Says Gill: ‘‘When I was posted in Assam, I didn’t even have a sentry to start with. It was only in the last year of my tenure that I was provided security. It surprises me when I see officers who love to move with escort vehicles wherever they go.’’

ADGP (Security) Shashikant lays down the approximate guidelines. A district police chief (SSP and above) is usually given a guard of one head constable and three constables. ‘‘The escort vehicle is supposed to be used only when the officer moves on field duty,’’ he adds, ‘‘but under the garb of the security clause, many officers misuse manpower.’’

For instance, the SSP of Chandigarh feels the need to use an escort vehicle on his 2 km journey from his home in Sector 16 to the police headquarters in Sector 9.

There’s no officer of the rank of an SSP or above who doesn’t have at least 10-15 men for his personal security. The duties of these armed men includes escorting the wives of officers and dropping their children to school.

AIG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, who unearthed the kidney scam in Amritsar, has two vehicles at his disposal, both allocated to the Amritsar police quota. He is posted with the Punjab Armed Police—which too gives him a vehicle.

Then there is IG (Headquarters) Sanjeev Gupta who lives in Sector 2, Panchkula. To save him from some perceived threat, the police has allegedly even encroached the green belt near his house, turning it into a parking lot, cordoning it off and pitching a tent for his guards.

The official word, however, is that security is being reduced. According to ADGP (Intelligence) S S Virk, ‘‘We have been reviewing the threat perception over the past few years. It is being reduced.’’

But the case of M S Chhina, presently SSP, Moga, may lead you to think otherwise. Not content with giving him security at Moga, armed policemen continue to guard his house in Mohali.

Senior Punjab Police officers admit misuse of security manpower. ‘‘The practice of using gunmen as status symbols has to be stopped,’’ says one officer. ‘‘There are a number of IPS officials who must have been in college during terrorism in Punjab. But when they join the force, they claim security, all in the name of a threat.’’

But it is Gill who articulates the question on many minds. ‘‘How could such police chiefs ensure security to their area residents, when they themselves feel so insecure?’’