Chandigarh, October 15: A sub-inspector from Punjab was among three policemen whose gallantry award the central government withdrew over criminal charges that they faced, an official of the Union home ministry said on Friday.
Controversial sub-inspector Gurmeet Singh Pinky, a “cat”-turned-dismissed cop, who was awarded the award in 1997 India, was convicted and later dismissed from service in 2006. The central government is believed to have learned of the conviction only in July 2015.
Punjab Government — when asked to confirm — advised the ministry to strip him of the award, the official said. After consulting intelligence agencies, the home ministry sent a proposal to former president Pranab Mukherjee, who in June this year gave nod to strip the cop of the police medal.
Pinky, the then sub-inspector with the Punjab Police, was awarded the police medal for gallantry on a proposal submitted by the state government for his bravery during service. At the time of awarding him the gallantry medal, the Punjab government had issued integrity certificate in favour of the official.
A murder case was registered against Pinky in 2001 and he was convicted and awarded life imprisonment in 2006. Subsequently, he was dismissed from the service. He was, however, released by the state government secretly on May 24, 2014 and was re-appointed as inspector on May 16 the next year.
However, much before this contentious decision could snowball into a major political controversy, his re-appointment was set aside.
Pinky, a resident of Mohali, was reportedly close to many terrorists in Punjab. In the early 1990s, he had been made a Punjab Police ‘cat’ (commando), helping the police fight terrorism. He later rose to the post of inspector, reportedly because of his proximity to some high-ups.
The others whose medals have been withdrawn are Dharmendra Choudhary, former Madhya Pradesh additional superintendent of police (ASP) — who has been suspected of staging an encounter — and Jharkhand Police sub- inspector Lalit Kumar, who has been accused of being involved in corruption cases.
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