Amritsar: Punjab Police had made a major mistake on Wednesday (January 5) allowing political protesters to stop PM Narendra Modi's convoy indirectly. Protesters blocked PM Modi's convoy for 20 minutes on a flyover about 30 km from Hussainiwala. The Home Ministry had said in a statement that the Prime Minister's convoy had left Punjab only after necessary confirmation from the DGP and the incident was the result of a major lapse by the Punjab Police.

Terming it as a major security lapse in the Prime Minister, the Home Ministry said that the Channi government in the state had been briefed long back on PM Modi's travel plan. The State Government was asked to make necessary arrangements for security, logistics and prepare a contingency plan in case of unforeseen issues. At present, there is Siddharth Chattopadhyay, a 1986 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer DGP of police in Punjab, whose appointment was carried forward by Navjot Singh Sidhu, president of the present Punjab Congress unit.

On 17th December last year, Chattopadhyay was appointed acting DGP (Punjab) in place of Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota. Sidhu had supported his appointment. Though state CM Charanjit Singh Channi and deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa supported Sahota, Sidhu resigned as party president and put pressure on the Congress in Punjab. He later withdrew his resignation under the condition that a panel for appointment of acting DGP had come from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). State that Chattopadhyay, who is scheduled to retire in March 2022, will hold the charge of acting DGP from the panel of 3 IPS officers shortlisted by UPSC till a regular DGP is appointed. Sidhu had been insisting on Chattopadhyay's name since Captain Amarinder Singh stepped down CM. The Congress government bowed to Sidhu's pressure strategy and Chattopadhyay became a DGP.

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