On Tuesday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration stripped disgraced cop Davinder Singh of the medal he received in 2018 for his role in countering a suicide attack by terrorists at the Pulwama district police lines on August 25, 2017. The action was undertaken based on an order by the Home Department signed by Shaleen Kabra, IAS, Principal Secretary to government, Home Department.
The order says that the alleged attempt to aid terrorists “amounts to disloyalty and conduct that has brought upon the force into disrepute.”
Singh who held the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police was arrested after a vehicle in which he was travelling with known members of the terrorist group Hizbul Mujahiddin was stopped at the Kulgam checkpoint on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The terrorist group members were identified as Syed Naveed Mushtaq, a former policeman who joined the militant organization in 2017 and his associate Asif.
It is noteworthy that Parliament terror attack convict Afzal Guru had also named Singh during investigations in that case. In 2004, Afzal Guru had reportedly written a letter to his lawyer Sushil Kumar claiming a DSP Davinder Singh who was posted with J&K police’s Special Operations Group at Humhama had asked him to take a Pakistani man named Mohammed to Delhi and help him rent a flat, and also purchase a car for him.
In fact, Afzal Guru recounted the same to journalist Vinod K Jose during an interview. Jose’s complete interview with Afzal Guru may be read here.
Now, in light of Singh’s arrest, it isn’t implausible to demand an investigation into his possible role in other acts of terror, including the Parliament attack.