Six more police personnel have been suspended in connection with PM Narendra Modi's security lapse in Punjab on January 5, 2022. So far, a total of seven police officers have been suspended for alleged dereliction of duty. According to news agency ANI. DSP Parson Singh, DSP Jagdish Kumar, Inspector Tejinder Singh, Inspector Balwinder Singh, Inspector Jatinder Singh and ASI Rakesh Kumar are the six officers suspended after it was reported on Saturday that Bathinda SP Gurbinder Singh has been suspended.
Gurbinder Singh, at the time of the incident, was posted as the Superintendent of Police (Operations) and was on duty in Ferozepur. On January 5, 2022, PM Modi's convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur after which he returned from Punjab without attending any of the events, including a rally.
The security breach ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections had stirred a massive row. According a PTI report, the suspension order, a report dated October 18, 2023, on the incident was submitted by the Director General of Police (DGP) in which the state police chief said that Singh did not perform his duty properly.
After considering the matter at the level of the competent authority, the officer concerned is suspended with immediate effect, said the order issued in Punjabi.
Earlier, a Supreme Court-appointed panel had probed the security breach and indicted several state officers for lapses.
The top court had on January 12 last year appointed the committee to probe the breach, saying these questions cannot be left to "one-sided inquiries" as they needed "judicially trained independent minds" to investigate.
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