No move to appoint Punjab officer as Himachal DGP: Virbhadra Singh

Putting an end to speculations that Himachal Pradesh is appointing a Punjab officer as its police chief, chief minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday rubbished all claims that the state is getting in touch with the Punjab government.

“I am yet to take any decision on the appointment of the new director general of police,” CM  told reporters here.

The state’s director general of police B Kamal Kumar, a 1982-batch Indian Police Service officer, is retiring July 31.

Sources said Kumar is not keen on getting any extension after his superannuation.
Singh’s assertion is significant in the context that there were reports that the state has sent a request to Punjab seeking its approval for the interstate cadre deputation of S K Sharma, a 1983-batch IPS officer from Punjab. The reports also claimed that none of the three senior-most Indian Police Service officers in the hill state fulfils the mandatory 30 years of service for the post.

“Why should we take somebody from outside the state?” asked the chief minister. Sharma is currently posted as additional director general, human resource development, training and community policing, in Punjab.

The three senior-most officers in the race to the top post are Somesh Goyal, Sanjay Kumar and S R Mardi.

I D Bhandari, who is currently posted as DGP, home guards and fire services, is the senior-most in the IPS cadre.

But he was unceremoniously removed from the top post in February. He was heading the CID when illegal phone tapping took place during the previous BJP regime.

Goyal is on deputation with the Sashastra Seema Bal, while Sanjay Kumar is on deputation with the Indian Railways and Mardi is serving as additional director general of police, CID.