CHANDIGARH: Punjab govt on Friday removed Gurpreet Singh Bhullar as Amritsar police commissioner amid a row erupted over his remarks regarding an alleged Pakistan ISI-backed terror conspiracy to target the Jantar Mantar protest.Border range DIG Harmanbir Singh Gill has been given additional charge of Amritsar police commissioner. Bhullar shall report to the DGP’s office till further orders and his posting shall be issued later, the transfer order said.The controversy stems from a Punjab Police media briefing on Tuesday (Aug 4) following the busting of two alleged ISI-backed terror modules. According to police, nine suspects, including four juveniles, were arrested, and three pistols, ammunition and four petrol bottle bombs were seized from them.Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said the accused were acting at the behest of foreign-based ISI handlers to recruit local youth, conduct surveillance of security installations and disturb public peace.During the briefing, Bhullar said the investigation had revealed that some of the accused had travelled to Delhi, conducted reconnaissance at Jantar Mantar, and were given petrol bombs and other material but could not execute their action for some reason.Two days later, Punjab Police issued a detailed clarification, accusing certain social media handles of falsely suggesting that the arrested persons were part of the Jantar Mantar protest.The police spokesperson maintained that the accused were allegedly planning to attack the protest and were not participants in it, stressing that Bhullar had never claimed that the protesters had any links with the terror module. “No statement was made that the arrested persons participated in the protests or that the Jantar-Mantar protesters had any links with the module,” said the clarification.It alleged that “selective trimming of videos, altered background visuals and accompanying captions had created a misleading impression”.Legal action under Information Technology Act will be taken, it said.Bhullar was removed two days after this. BJP functionary Ravneet Singh Bittu on Friday posted on X, “The timing of Gurpreet Bhullar’s transfer is bound to raise eyebrows. Did his accurate revelations about the alleged Jantar Mantar plot trouble Kejriwal?”
