Punjab police may revolt against Badal government: Bhattal

Former chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on Friday warned the Centre of the possibility of a ''revolt'' in the Punjab police force and re-emergence of militancy in the state, if the Badal government continued its policy of victimisation and harassment of police officers.

A Congress delegation led by Bhattal met Union Home Minister Inderjit Gupta and told him there was great demoralisation among Punjab police personnel, particularly among those who had played a major role in containing militancy in the state.

Addressing mediapersons after the meeting, she said senior police officials felt suffocated and may raise a banner of revolt against the state government, if redressal measures were not taken immediately.

She accused the state government of encouraging subversive forces in the state by honouring separatist leaders.

Referring to former Tarn Taran police chief K S Sandhu's suicide, she said, ''We had brought peace to Punjab during the Congress regime, after a struggle in which more than 30,000 people laid down their lives. We do not want militancy to re-emerge in the state,'' Bhattal told Gupta. The delegation demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into Sandhu's suicide.

She said it was unfortunate that a man who played a vital role in maintaining the nation's integrity was harassed by the state government, forcing him to take this drastic step. No leader from the ruling Akali Dal, she said, had visited Sandhu's home to express condolences to the bereaved family.

She said police personnel, who had been jailed by the state government, had gone on fast inside the prison to protest against the atrocities being committed on the police force by the Badal government.

UNI