Punjab cops run up Rs 6-cr bill

Rs 5.83 Crore. This is the amount the Punjab Police owes as petrol, power and water bills. But it seems to be in no hurry to pay back, going...

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Rs 5.83 Crore. This is the amount the Punjab Police owes as petrol, power and water bills. But it seems to be in no hurry to pay back, going by the pile of reminders sent by various government and private departments for immediate payment.

The department owes Rs 4.05 crore for petrol and Rs 1.50 crore for power consumption and Rs 28 lakh as water arrears. And there’s more to it: the Rs 4.05-crore petrol and diesel bill is only of the security wing of the Punjab Police. ‘‘The security wing has a large fleet of vehicles, including Gypsys and Ambassadors, to escort VVIPs and VIPs,’’ said an official.

Now, some petrol pump-owners have simply refused to provide fuel for police vehicles.

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The limit for petrol is Rs 7,000 a month and for diesel, it is Rs 4,000 per vehicle.

But there are about 28 VVIPs in the state for whom the state government has done away with the ceiling — they can spend as much as they want. PCC president Hans Pal, AICC general secretary Ambika Soni, former DGP K P S Gill and media adviser to Punjab CM B I S Chahal are among the VVIPs, sources said.

‘‘The pending bills are mounting every month. The situation never changes because payment always comes late and by then, police vehicles would have consumed more fuel,’’ said J P Khanna, president, Punjab Petroleum Dealers’ Association. ‘‘We urge the government to expedite the process. The Punjab government owes petrol pump-owners across the state about Rs 15 crore,’’ he added.

Since 1998, the Punjab Police Headquarters building in Sector 9 has also run up a power bill of Rs 1.50 crore. The police say they have paid some part of the bill to the UT Electricity Department, and the rest is pending.

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When contacted, UT Chief Engineer V K Bharawaj said: ‘‘We have taken up the matter with senior officials of the Punjab Police. We hope it will be solved soon. The bills were pending earlier too. The police paid up after we asked them to.’’

The Punjab Police also owes around Rs 28 lakh to the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation in terms of water arrears.

Punjab Director-General of Police S.S. Virk was not available for comment.