Chandigarh: Amidst protests in the state over incidents of the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Punjab government has replaced the Director General of Police, Sumedh Singh Saini with Suresh Arora, a 1982 batch IPS officer, who was serving as the chief director of Vigilance Bureau. Saini has been shifted as director Housing Corporation. Considered a close ally of chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, many opposed the conduct of Saini as the DGP.
In another move, the Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee announced it had revoked the suspension of the Panj Pyaras for summoning the high priests, and said they would be transferred to other duties in the organisation. SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said the five have been moved to the Dharam Parachar Committee, but the Panj Pyaras said they had not heard anything from the committee and that they did not acknowledge their suspension in the first place. The protests coincide with Sikh anger over the SGPC's pardon to the controversial Sera Sach Sauda head Baba Ram Rahim Singh, and in the wake of the farmers' agitation over a range of issues.
There have been violent protests in the state lately since the first case of desecration surfaced on October 12. Matters were made worse when two protesters were killed in police firing.
