In police parlance, ‘cats’ are former terrorists who have chosen to become police informers. The arrest of S S Virk, former Punjab DGP and a serving IPS officer, has now put the concept under question. The fact that Virk — who has been charged with possession of disproportionate assets, misusing official position and doing business while in government service — gave a fake identity to a ‘cat’, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi, has created more controversy. Legally, it is tantamount to an offence under Sections 216 and 218 of the Indian Penal Code which prescribe punishment for sheltering a person wanted by law, screening him from law enforcement agencies and giving him a fake identity or framing an incorrect record. But the opinion remains divided, with several police officers and politicians saying the use of ‘cats’ is indispensable in tackling terrorism. Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh publicly supported Virk on this by saying it was a norm all over the world. “How can you breach the ranks of terrorists otherwise? There are so many insurgency movements on in India. Officers often use this to infiltrate their ranks,” he said. Virk served in Punjab Police during the peak of terrorism and he didn’t deny the charges of having used ‘cats’. In fact, he blamed the Government for pursuing a “personal vendetta” and accused some fellow officers of being disloyal and “exposing a strategy to fight terror”. Several senior police officials of Punjab admit that use of ‘cats’ is frequent when they tackle terrorism. It is believed that at one time, as many as 300 ‘cats’ were active in the state. A top police official said, “You need a thief to catch a thief. Modern day terrorism is a very complex problem. There are times when you to have outsmart the terrorist by using his own men. If they can have their informers in our forces, why can’t we have some of their people working for us?” In fact, some human right groups claim that in several cases, Punjab Police resorted to fake encounters, i.e. someone else was killed and shown as a terrorist, whereas the actual person was taken in as a ‘cat’. Virk’s problems run even deeper. The allegations are that not only did he use a ‘cat’ but he also showed that Sukhi had died, while he was in hiding. The police did raid Sukhi’s residence in Ludhiana but he managed to escape. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has chosen to distance himself from this controversy. He has maintained a silence and has replied to the Opposition’s accusations of vendetta only through his media officer. He stated that the arrests were made by the Vigilance Bureau (VB) and such matters did not require his intervention. The practice of using the VB to settle personal scores isn’t new. In fact, during the tenure of the Congress Government, numerous charges were brought against the Badal family. Now with the Akali-BJP Government at the helm of affairs, investigations have started against people perceived to be close to the former Chief Minister. Virk’s arrest comes shortly after the arrest of B S Chahal, media advisor to Captain Singh. Post his arrest, Virk has threatened to name some other officers who have used ‘cats’. This could open a whole new embarrassing can of worms for Punjab Police.
