By IANS,
Chandigarh : The Congress Monday urged the Election Commission to remove Punjab Police chief Sumedh Singh Saini from his post to ensure free and fair Lok Sabha elections in the state.
A delegation of senior Congress leaders, including Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, state party chief Pratap Singh Bajwa, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Sunil Jakhar and others met poll panel functionaries in New Delhi Monday to seek Saini’s removal.
“Cognizance must be taken of role of current Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini. He actively coordinated movement of money and other resources during the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2012 despite being a serving officer.
“He is currently facing trial in a case of abduction and murder. His transfer and monitoring of his activities post removal from this very important post is critical for ensuring that police do not hinder free and fair elections in Punjab,” said the memorandum submitted by the Congress leaders.
They also demanded that elections to all 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab be held in one phase to rule out any misuse of state machinery by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance government.
The Congress leaders said that the Punjab government had posted state police service officers as district police chiefs, and demanded that Indian Police Service (IPS) officers should be posted instead.
They also urged the poll panel to ensure that registration of false cases is not used as a tool by the Punjab government to influence voters.