Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday arrested Davinder Singh, the Deputy Superintendent of Police, while he was accompanying two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists from Srinagar to New Delhi. The cop had taken a four-day leave from Sunday and was missing from duty on Saturday. His arrest came as a shocker for the security establishment as he is one of the most decorated Jammu and Kashmir Police officers.
Davinder Singh was also a controversial cop in the Valley; his name first came into the picture when Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru had levelled a serious allegation against the officer. In a written affidavit, Guru has alleged that Singh had forced him to ferry the Parliament attack terrorists to Delhi, hire a flat there and also buy a second-hand white ambassador car for the use of the terrorists. Notably, this was the same ambassador that was used for the deadly attack on the Indian parliament which claimed the lives of 9 security personnel. But the security agencies dismissed all the allegations against Singh and a probe was never ordered.
Davinder Singh: Story of meteoric rise in J&K police
Davinder Singh had joined the Jammu and Kashmir police as a sub-inspector where he served in the counter-insurgency Special Operations Group (SoG) formerly known as Special Task Force (STF). He quickly rose to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police and earned prestigious police medal for gallantry ostensibly for his anti-militancy duties.
Interestingly, Davinder was supposed to be the Senior Superintendent of Police by now but his case of promotion is still pending in the court. Earlier in 2015, J&K police had filed a case again Davinder Singh for coercing, extorting money from common people and falsely implicating them in cases leading to their imprisonment.
The development has come as a shock for the security establishment as Singh was also among the first batch of government officials who met with visiting foreign dignitaries, including the United States Ambassador to India after they landed in Srinagar airport on Thursday. J&K Police on Sunday announced that Singh will be treated like a terrorist. Inspector-General of Police Vijay Kumar said, "We consider DSP Davinder Singh's involvement as a heinous crime and he will be dealt in the same manner as other arrested militants."
