Patiala : The Punjab Government on Friday suddenly withdrew the security cover that it had provided to former Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Bir Devinder Singh for the past over two decades. Criticising the move, Bir Devinder said he had been targeted for extending support to former Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal for his ‘Jago Punjab Yatra’ and that he would still “continue his tirade against corrupt politics”. Sources in the Police Department confirmed that following instructions from the headquarters, the security provided to the former minister was withdrawn. A gypsy that was provided to the former minister was also called back with immediate effect on Friday. Terming the entire process of withdrawal of security cover from his ancestral home in Kotla Bhai Ka village in Sirhind and his residence in Model Town, Patiala, as “politically motivated”, Bir Devinder alleged that since he had been instrumental in criticising the government for their “wrongdoings”, he had been targeted. “I know Sukhbir Badal is perturbed with me for taking up issues against him,” added the former Deputy Speaker. Officials said that Bir Devinder had the services of a head constable, two constables and one cook at his ancestral house in addition to an assistant sub-inspector and five policemen for his private security. Bir Devinder said he was first given security as he had in 1983 spoken as a chief party whip in the House on the advent of terrorism. “I was attacked in 1991 in my ancestral house and a sentry was killed in that encounter,” he recalled. Sukhbir was not even in Punjab when we were fighting terrorism and now he takes away my security cover, he said. A senior police officer confirmed that the security cover was withdrawn due to orders from the police headquarters and that there was nothing political in it.
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