Seek deputation with Centre if not happy with STF's reappointment: Punjab CM

Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday said that anyone unhappy with senior IPS officer Harpreet Sidhu's re-posting as Special Task Force (STF) chief is welcome to leave the state and seek deputation with the Central government.

"If any officer has problems with his orders, such an officer can say so and seek a deputation with the Centre," said the Chief Minister, making it clear that he would not allow anyone to scuttle his decision.

The decision to re-appoint ADGP Sidhu as the STF chief comes amid reports of drugs becoming an issue again in the state and he was re-appointed as the STF chief on Thursday in a major re-shuffle of the police top brass in the state.

Taking note of reports indicating resentment over Sidhu's re-appointment, the Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, said: "It is my prerogative to transfer and post any police officer in the interest of the state".

"My decision is best motivated by the best interests of the state. Any objection to the move amounted to indiscipline," he further added.

Captain Amarinder has reiterated time and again that his government remains committed to the elimination of the drug menace from the state.

For long, the Chief Minister has been pleading for a national drugs policy to tackle the problem, which is posing serious concerns for Punjab, where drugs are being smuggled not just from across the Indo-Pak border but also from other states.

The Chief Minister also denied reports appearing in a section of the press that Sidhu had written to him and sought a central deputation.

Sidhu was the first chief of the STF constituted by Captain Amarinder soon after he took over as the Chief Minister in 2017.

The STF, under Sidhu, made remarkable progress in dealing with the problem of drugs, which had allegedly assumed menacing proportions under the BJP-SAD rule.