Chandigarh, May 26: Former Punjab DGP KPS Gill earned the title of a supercop by taking the terrorists head-on. At the same time, he remained in the eye of a storm over alleged police highhandedness, human rights violations and starting of a ‘police raj’ in Punjab.
Born at Gill village in Ludhiana district, he was originally an Assam-Meghalaya- cadre IPS officer who was picked for dealing with militancy after Operation Bluestar in 1984.
In 1988, he was the DGP when terrorists had again fortified the Golden Temple. Gill, who was not in favour of an armed attack on the holiest Sikh shrine, successfully led Operation Black Thunder. Gill preferred cutting electricity and water supply to the premises to win the battle. He allowed media minute-by-minute coverage of the operation and pictures of militants coming out surrendering with arms above the heads were flashed across the world. He got the Padma Shri for his accomplishments.
In Gill’s second term from 1991, Chief Minister Beant Singh gave him a free hand for a full assault against terrorists. Journalists quoted him as saying that he believed in proactive counter-terrorism where the “battle is to be taken to the terrorist camps rather than to wait for them to come out and strike.”
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/
