PUNE, 10 September 2007 — The arrest of Maharashtra’s seniormost Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and Director General of Police (DGP) Swardeep Singh Virk in the early hours of yesterday morning by a team of officials of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau created ripples in the top hierarchy of the already demoralized police force of Maharashtra state.
The former Punjab DGP was arrested from the state-run Maharashtra Sadan guest house and whisked off to an undisclosed destination in Mohali district for interrogation. Virk did not offer any resistance at the time of his arrest. Virk will be produced in a court in Chandigarh today.
Meanwhile, the Punjab vigilance officials raided his residences in Chandigarh and Amritsar and were searching for incriminating documents. Speaking to the media after his arrest, Virk said that the cases were politically motivated and entirely baseless and false.
“These cases are sheer harassment and victimization to settle scores with political rivals,” he said
According to Maharashtra home department sources in Mumbai, the Punjab government had registered two cases against Virk. One case was registered for allegedly possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Virk is also alleged to be involved in business transactions during his tenure as DGP of Punjab.
