Former Punjab DGP K P S Gill Dies Aged 82

New Delhi: The officer who led from the front even as controversies dogged him, former Director General of Punjab Police Kanwar Pal Singh Gill passed away at 2.30 PM at the Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi at age 82 after a brief illness.

Known as the Supercop and given various other epithets - Sher-e-Punjab and Shan-e-Punjab, Gill was a man who largely had admirers but did not fall short of detractors either.

Assigned to the Assam Cadre in 1958, KPS Gill was moved to Punjab in 1984 to curb the rising militancy in the border state. From 1984 to 1995 Gill served the Punjab Police twice as Director General of Police and was instrumental in adopting an aggressive style of police functioning that eventually rid the state of the Khalistani Militancy movement even as it put him under the harsh glare of criticism for human right violations and excesses in the use of the police force.

Gill always defended his action in the state even as he was branded as one of the most hated people in the state. He always said he had no regrets and felt that he along with the rest of the Police force. He always said that the police had to be ruthless to rid the state of militancy.

Several human rights organisations and individuals criticised Gill for a high handed and brutal approach towards curbing militancy. Known to be a confident and almost immodest officer, he always absolved the police force and himself of any excesses in Punjab. He once said in an interview that the Punjab Police was almost near God in ratings.

Mourning his loss the Indian Police Service association tweeted: “We deeply mourn the sad demise of iconic IPS officer, the legendary KPS Gill. His work in defeating Punjab militancy will always inspire us."

Gill was credited with using unorthodox techniques and also creating a unified Punjab Police to combat terrorism in the state. “I have a gut feeling that militancy would never return to Punjab," was a refrain that KPS Gill repeated often.

From being known as a lion like officer to courting controversies including the one where a lady IAS officer complained of sexual harassment to facing human rights violations allegations, KPS Gill was a police officer who stayed in the headlines not just for his policing achievements but other exploits too.