CHANDIGARH: Four Himachal Pradesh Police personnel, including a sub-inspector of Solan district, part of the escort and on protocol duty of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, have been placed under suspension after being caught on camera buying liquor crates from a shop in Chandigarh in uniform.
Sources said that the helicopter of Sukhu could not take off from Shimla owing to bad weather. Followingly, the CM had come to Chandigarh on August 1 by road on his way to Delhi.
The police personnel were returning to Solan when they bought the liquor from a shop.
The incident came to light after a bystander captured a two-minute video of the policemen in uniform allegedly purchasing two cartons of liquor and loading them into a black Scorpio SUV. The footage went viral on social media.
Following a preliminary probe, Superintendent of Police of Solan, Gaurav Singh, ordered the suspension of the four officials: Sub-Inspector Manoj Kumar and constables Srikant, Manohar Lal, and Rajan Kumar.
Confirming the development, Singh said that the four police personnel have been suspended after verifying the authenticity of the video being shared on social media.
"The cyber cell examined the footage and identified the four policemen, two from Solan district police and two from the Kolar Police Battalion, posted in Solan. A departmental inquiry has also been ordered. The matter is being taken very seriously, and further action will be taken after the inquiry is completed; accountability will be ensured," he said.
Sources stated that the two of the suspended police personnel from Kolar Police Battalion were repatriated from Solan to their native battalion in Sirmaur district.