Cops assault IFS officer at party

A Senior Indian Forest Service officer,currently posted as the divisional forest officer in Patiala,was assaulted by officers of the Punjab Police at private party in Nabha late on Friday night. On Saturday,a compromise was reached after matter came to the notice of senior police officers.

According to Dharminder Sharma — a 1994-batch officer — he was invited to a private function held by a local businessman,where Nabha DSP Arshdeep Singh and Station House Officer G S Bal were also present,along with their personal gunmen. “Under the influence of liquor,both officers started misbehaving with me and later assaulted me. The gunmen also followed suit. They had forcibly taken away the mike from the singer who was performing at the function and started singing their own paeans. The guests,including me,objected to this,” alleged Sharma.

Following this,Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill summoned the DSP and the Station House Officer on Saturday morning. “The SHO sought an apology from the IFS officer,” said an

official.

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Sharma claimed that on Friday night only,he had brought the matter into the notice of SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill and Deputy Commissioner Depinder Singh. “I got myself medically examined on Friday night at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. The report shows my injury marks,” he added.

When contacted,DSP Arshdeep Singh claimed it was a minor incident which took place because the SHO did not know of Sharma’s seniority. Despite repeated attempts,SHO G S Bal was not available for comments.

SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill also claimed that following Bal’s apology,the matter has been solved as for now.