CHANDIGARH: Punjab might have a new state police chief soon as the honeymoon between chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and incumbent NPS Aulakh seems to be over.

Aulakh, a 1972 IPS officer, was handpicked by the chief minister last year to head the state police when he was the additional director general of the BSF.

Differences over the appointment of senior police officers and Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal’s displeasure over Aulakh’s style of functioning are seen as the major reasons for the showdown between the DGP and the government. Sources said it was due to pressure from the junior Badal that as many as three districts have been without police chiefs for the last few months.

However, since Aulakh has all along been a blue-eyed boy of the chief minister, indications are that he would not be meted out  a raw deal but would be allowed to work out his deputation to the Centre as a respectable way out. Having served a long innings in the BSF up to the rank of  an ADG, Aulakh would in all probability be eyeing to capture the post of DG, BSF, which is likely to fall vacant shortly.

Sources say that 1971 batch IPS officer KK Attri, presently posted as DG, home guards, and 1975 batch IPS officer Anil Kaushik, ADG, security, are the front-runners for the office of the DGP.

The chief minister has also explored the possibility of Bihar-cadre IPS officer, N Sandhu, posted in the intelligence bureau to be inducted as the state police chief. But the officer, in the rank of special secretary, has turned down the offer.

Apart from Attri and Kaushik, three other IPS officers, RS Gill, Mohammad Izhar Alam and AP Pandey, are also trying their luck. Gill, incidentally, was removed as the DGP by the chief minister soon after he took over last year. Alam and Pandey had been closer to former chief minister Amarinder Singh and both had headed the vigilance bureau during the Congress rule to register corruption cases against senior Akali leaders.

Courtesy:DNA