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Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota gets additional charge of Punjab DGP
The Punjab government has given the charge to Sahota till procedure to select new DGP is finalised by sending panel of names of officers to UPSC; predecessor Dinkar Gupta on one-month leave
Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota, a 1988-batch Indian Police Service officer, was on Saturday given the additional charge of Punjab director general of police.
Sahota, who was posted as special DGP Punjab Armed Police in Jalandhar, was given the additional charge of Punjab DGP after incumbent Dinkar Gupta decided to proceed on one-month leave.
The state government cannot itself appoint the DGP and has to follow the procedure laid down by the Supreme Court. Sahota will have the additional charge till the procedure of selecting the new DGP is finalised.
Also read: Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta applies for leave amid suspense over appointment of top cop
It is learnt that chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi has directed the home department to start the process for the appointment of a regular DGP and send a panel of names of officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The UPSC will send back names of three officers, from among whom the Punjab government will pick one for the top job.
Known for being cool and composed and keeping a low profile, Sahota, who belongs to Jalandhar, has a wide range of experience in service in Punjab. He served as the ADGP, law and order, prisons, railways, and administration, besides the director, bureau of investigation.
Channi prevails over Sidhu on Sahota
Even as a section of the Congress, led by Punjab unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, was backing 1986-batch IPS officer, S Chattopadhyaya, for the top job, finally Channi prevailed as his first choice for the job was Sahota.
Highly placed sources in the government revealed that at one point, Chattopadhyaya was even conveyed the decision for his elevation to the top job.
Senior government functionaries said that Chattopadhyaya is likely to be given the charge of chief director, vigilance, whereas, special task force (STF) chief Harpreet Singh Sidhu can be the new intelligence chief.
Meanwhile, Sahota took over the new charge in the afternoon and immediately held a meeting with the top brass of the force at the headquarters in Chandigarh.
Sahota-led SIT alleged foreign hand in sacrilege
After the sacrilege and police firing incidents in 2015, Sahota had headed the SIT that alleged foreign hand in sacrilege cases.
The SIT was quick to claim a breakthrough at a press conference on October 21, 2015, terming the Bargari sacrilege incident “a handiwork of some foreign handlers”.
The SIT also arrested two brothers from Faridkot, alleging that they were in touch with someone in Australia and their funding by foreign-based handlers had been established. It also claimed to have intercepted their calls to handlers in Dubai and Australia.
