Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, a 2004-batch IPS officer of the Punjab cadre, has not yet been assigned a new posting. He has been directed to report to the office of Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav at the Punjab Police Headquarters in Chandigarh. The duties of the Police Commissioner, a post vacated by Bhullar, have currently been entrusted to Harmanbir Singh. Harmanbir is presently posted as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in Amritsar and has been given the additional charge of Police Commissioner.
The controversy in Punjab began on August 4, when the Punjab Police announced the busting of two Pakistan-backed terror modules and the arrest of nine individuals. Four minor boys were among those arrested.
The Amritsar police stated that the accused were working on a plan (at the behest of handlers based in Pakistan) to recruit local youths, procure illegal weapons, and carry out activities aimed at disturbing public peace. During a media briefing, Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar stated that one of the alleged modules had visited Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and recced the site. Their handlers based in Pakistan had tasked them with disrupting the peace using petrol bombs. However, Bhullar clarified that the arrested accused were not involved in the protests taking place at Jantar Mantar. Yet, video clips of the briefing were presented in a manner that led viewers to believe the protesters were receiving instructions from Pakistan to incite trouble.
On August 6, the Punjab Police issued an official clarification stating that edited clips of Bhullar’s press conference, accompanied by misleading captions, had been circulated on social media.
In its statement, the Punjab Police noted that Commissioner Bhullar’s remarks had been taken out of context and reiterated that the arrested accused were not part of the protests. On the contrary, investigators allege that the module had conducted reconnaissance of the site and planned to target protesters using petrol bombs.
The Punjab Police further stated that legal action would be taken against those responsible for spreading the misleading content.
Some police officials believe that this controversy could have been avoided had the remarks during the press briefing been phrased more carefully.
