By IANS
Chandigarh : Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh Monday defended former state police chief S.S. Virk, arrested on corruption charges, and warned the Parkash Singh Badal-led Akali Dal government not to tread on a “dangerous path”.
Visiting Virk, who served over two years as director general of police (DGP) during his regime (2002-07), at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and research (PGIMER) here Monday evening, Singh said that the former top cop was being unfairly targeted by the Badal government.
“If they want to settle political vendetta, they should get me. Officers who have worked with me should not be targeted. If I do the same when the Congress returns to power, god knows what will happen,” Singh said.
He spent nearly 30 minutes with Virk in a private ward of the super-specialty hospital.
Virk was admitted there in the afternoon after his blood pressure shot up in custody Sunday and he went on a ‘hunger strike’ against his arrest.
The former DGP, a serving DGP-rank officer in Maharashtra, was arrested by the state police’s vigilance wing Sunday morning from New Delhi’s Maharashtra Sadan. He has been accused of corruption and harbouring terrorists.
“They are accusing him (Virk) of harbouring terrorists. Tell me in which state or country are police cats (informers) not cultivated and used? A man who has fought terrorism, got the Padma Shri and gallantry awards, was hit with a bullet in his face and served the country for 37 years is being hounded like a criminal. This is a tragedy,” the former chief minister said.
Singh warned officers in the Badal regime, who according to him were going out of their way to please the present political leadership by hounding his team, to be prepared to face the music when he returns to power.
The former chief minister pointed out that Virk’s arrest by Punjab police was itself illegal.
“They arrested the officer without informing the central or Maharashtra government. They even did not bother to inform the union home ministry. No clearance was sought from the personnel ministry for his arrest. Even the state government or police in Delhi, where the arrest was carried out, was not informed. I have written to the prime minister regarding all this,” he added.
Meanwhile, Virk and his father Kuldeep Singh Virk – both Padma Shri awardees – have indicated that they will return the award if action is not taken against the Punjab government for the “illegal arrest”.