No more Protection for Political leaders and clergy by Punjab Police

Former MLAs, Jathedars of two Takhts, leaders of Deras, and police personnel are among the 424 people whose security has been ordered to be removed by the Punjab Police.

The security employees, however, were ‘being withdrawn on a completely temporary basis in connection with an emergent law and order duty,’ according to an order issued by the additional director general of police (security) on Friday.

Giani Harpreet Singh, Jathedar of Takht Damdama Sahib in Bathinda, is one of the most prominent Sikh temporal officials who has lost his security cover.

He also serves as the Jathedar of Akal Takht, the Sikhs’ highest temporal seat.

Giani Raghbir Singh, the Jathedar of Takht Kesgarh Sahib in Anandpur Sahib district; Sant Niranjan Dass, the chief of Dera Sachkhand Ballan in Jalandhar; Satguru Udhay Singh Namdhari, Bhaini Sahib, Ludhiana; Giani Jagtar Singh, the head granthi at the Golden Temple in Amritsar; Baba Lakha Singh, Gurdwara Nan

Those assigned to guard Dera Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Dera Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, Noormahal, and Shahi Imam Punjab, Mohammad Usman Ludhianvi have also been withdrawn.

Shiromani Akali Dal member from Majitha seat Ganieve Kaur Majithia, Congress MLA from Jalandhar Cantonment Pargat Singh, and Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Ludhiana North Madan Lal Bagga are among those whose protection has been revoked.

Former Congress legislators Kuljit Singh Nagra, Balwinder Singh Laddi, Harminder Gill, Madan Lal Jalalpur, Surjit Dhiman, Hardial Kamboj, and Sukhpal Bhullar, as well as former Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal legislators Dinesh Babbu, Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Kanwarjit Singh, and Gurpartap Singh Wadala, have had their security cover removed

Kanwar Sandhu and Jagtar Singh Jagga, both former AAP MLAs, have also lost their security protection.

The security detail assigned to Fatehjang Bajwa, a former MLA and BJP leader, as well as former minister Tikshan Sood and BJP main spokesperson Anil Sareen, has been called back.

Former Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speakers Rana K P Singh and Nirmal Singh Kahlon, as well as former deputy speaker Ajaib Singh Bhatti and former MP Shamsher Singh Dullo, have had their security revoked.

Other prominent leaders whose protection has been revoked include Iqbal Singh Lalpura, chairperson of the National Commission for Minorities; Sanjay Srivastava, chairman of the Bhakra Beas Management Board; former Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa; Raj Bahadur, vice chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences; and singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, also known as Sidhu Moosewal

Additional director general of police rank officers S K Asthana, L K Yadav, M F Farooqui, Varinder Kumar, Parveen Kumar Sinha, Shashi Prabha Dewedi, Arpit Shukla, Ishwar Singh, B Chandra Sekhar, and V Neerja are among those whose security protection has been reduced.

Harpreet Singh Sidhu, the head of the anti-drug Special Task Force of the Indian Police Service, has also had his protection decreased.