Sometimes, reality contradicts relevance. At least it holds true for the 1992-batch IPS officer, Harpreet Singh Sidhu. The man, who headed the first anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) in Punjab, has been waiting for a posting for the last five months under the government that boasts of fighting a relentless war against drugs.
It was in Sept last year when he was repatriated to his home cadre from the central deputation, where he served as Additional Director General (ADG) with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Sidhu’s contribution to tackling the drug menace is not limited to the role he played as an STF chief; rather, he played an instrumental role in introducing key measures to combat the disease in the state.
He had been appointed as Special DGP by the former Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, to head the anti-drug STF under the Congress-led govt in March 2017. Captain especially assigned him this task by securing his premature repatriation from his central deputation.
He worked meticulously with US-based drug therapist and consultant Dr Kanwar Ajit Singh Sidhu to introduce the Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics to provide free OPD-based treatment to drug addicts. The therapy marked a shift from sole “abstinence” to a substitution strategy, where addicts are put on alternate medicine to wean them off drugs and substances like heroin.
While heading the anti-drug STF, Sidhu also came up with a comprehensive action against drug abuse (CADA) strategy, focusing on a 3-pronged strategy of enforcement, de-addiction, and prevention (EDP). He introduced community initiatives like drug abuse prevention officers (DAPOs) and the ‘buddy’ programme in educational institutes to prevent drug abuse among youth through peer pressure.
But unfortunately, Sidhu was removed from his post amid differences with the then DGP, Suresh Arora, and posted as Special Principal Secretary to the CM. He was, however, brought back as STF chief in July 2019. Later, he also held charge as ADGP (Prisons) before going on central deputation with the ITBP in 2022 for 4 years.
While his central deputation was to end in October 2026, Sidhu was prematurely repatriated to the parent cadre at his request in September last year, after his junior from the West Bengal cadre, Praveen Kumar (IPS:1993:WB), was appointed as Director General (DG) of the ITBP.
But Sidhu is not alone in remaining without posting in Punjab. There are several others. A 1997-batch IPS officer with ADGP rank, Naunihal Singh, remained without posting for about 10 months before he got posted in Sept 2024. Another officer, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, the 2004-batch IPS officer who is currently serving as Amritsar Police Commissioner, remained without a posting for nearly two months before being posted as IG (Provisioning) on Aug 2, 2024.
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