ADGP Harpreet Sidhu holds first meeting of anti-drugs STF

CHANDIGARH: 1992-batch IPS officer ADGP Harpreet Sidhu, chief of newly formed anti-drugs special task force (

STF

) set up by chief minister Amarinder Singh last week, has formed his team for the crackdown on druglords operating in the state.

Sidhu brings along with him a heavy experience in anti-Naxal operations in Chhattisgarh, where he was on CRPF deputation. He was specially called by Amarinder to head the much talked about police wing in Punjab. Sidhu enjoys the reputation of being one of the upright officers in Punjab.

His team would include two 1995-batch IPS colleagues, Promod Ban and Billa Chandraksekhar, and 1998-batch

Punjab Police

Service (PPS) officer Balkar Singh Sidhu.

While Ban has led path breaking probes into terror attacks at Gurdaspur and Pathankot during his stint as IG (counter intelligence), Chandrasekhar largely served in the vigilance bureau (VB) during the last few years. He was handpicked by the Election Commission (EC) as IG Patiala zone in the middle of elections.

“It’s a privilege to serve in this new wing. It was our first meeting today,” Sidhu told TOI.

Interestingly, while Ban has worked under Sidhu as SP in Ludhiana at the beginning of his career, Balkar was at one stage supervising a team that included Sidhu.

Sources in the Congress government said that Amarinder was keen on picking another 1995-batch officer IG (counter-intelligence) Amit Prasad for his hands-on approach. Like Sidhu, Prasad was also part of paramilitary force ITBP for last few years, before repatriating to Punjab Police in 2015 December.

The 1995-batch of Punjab Police has earned the reputation of having produced non-controversial cops with long successful stints and clean records. IG Nageshwar Rao, a colleague of Ban, Prasad and Chandrasekhar, too was handpicked by the EC as Amritsar police commissioner two months ago.

It is because of this reason that Amarinder is keen on inducting Prasad into Sidhu’s team. The CM has already said that he will give free hand to Sidhu to launch his crackdown on drug smugglers.