DSPrank, higher officials will be able to use special bluered magnetic LED bar, govt had earlier banned beacons to end VIP culture
› Sometimes, cops need to display authority to ensure law and order. A senior official of the department took up the issue with the chief minister. A TOP POLICE OFFICER
From page 01 CHANDIGARH: Beacons are all set to be back atop vehicles of Punjab Police officials, six months after the Captain Amarinder Singhled Congress government barred its officials, MLAs and ministers from using them.
A notification regarding the use of special red-blue beacon for vehicles of DSP-rank and above officials will be issued in the next few days, said sources.
The Congress, in its poll manifesto, had promised to remove official beacons to end VIP culture and Captain passed orders in this regard soon after assuming power. Only emergency and fire services were exempted from the beacon ban.
A DGP-rank official told HT that the need for beacons atop vehicles was felt during the law and order crisis arising after the Sirsa dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s rape conviction.
“Our officials found it tough to move around in hostile conditions. During the curfew, the cops on duty could not make out whether the vehicle on the road was that of police or general public,” said the official.
Justifying the move to allow special beacons, another top police official said the job of police was different from a civil servant. “Sometimes, the cops need to show authority to control law and order problem. A senior official of the department took up the issue with the chief minister,” he said.
The new beacons would be different from the regular blue and amber beacons used earlier by police officials. “It’s a magnetic LED bar that would emit blue and red light. This will be used only during the duty hours. A wireless set is also being provided in all these vehicles,” said government sources.
A senior official asserted that beacon exemption to police vehicles won’t dilute the government’s will to end VIP culture. “It’s not like a regular beacon that cops can flaunt,’ he added.
