CHATTOPADHYAYA GETS ADDITIONAL CHARGE OF PUNJAB VB CHIEF DIRECTOR

CHANDIGARH: In a significant development on a day when Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu met central party leaders in Delhi, chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on Thursday gave additional charge of chief director, Vigilance Bureau, to 1986-batch IPS officer S Chattopadhyaya.

According to the order, Chattopadhyaya, who is currently posted as special DGP, PSPCL, will be in-charge of bureau till BK Uppal is on leave. This is the second time in three days that the in-charge of vigilance bureau has been changed. BK Upppal had proceeded on onemonth leave after Channi replaced Capt Amarinder as the chief minister.

On Monday, the government had given the charge to ADGP LK Yadav, who even started sitting at the office, it is learnt. He also released a press statement on Wednesday being bureau’s chief director, ordering issuance of a Whatsapp number for the citizens where they could raise the issue of corruption by officials of his department.

Appointment of Chattopadhyaya, who is also a frontrunner for the post of Punjab Police chief, is being seen as a important development at a time when the UPSC is about to send names of three officers from among the panel sent by the state government for appointment of the police chief.

1988-batch IPS officer Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota had been given the additional charge of the Punjab DGP by chief minister Channi, ignoring Chattopadhyaya despite Navjot Sidhu backing him.

The latest move is being seen as the result of Sidhu pulling the strings in Delhi. Sidhu met party’s Punjab affairs in-charge Harish Rawat and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Thursday.