1st Pak Sikh police officer, kin ‘kicked’ out of house

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 10

Pakistan’s first Sikh traffic  police officer Gulaab Singh Shaheen and his family were reportedly kicked out of their home in Dera Chahal village on the outskirts of Lahore on Tuesday by a team comprising the police and officials of the Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB).

Gulaab Singh’s home, standing on land owned by Gurdwara Bebe Nanki Janam Asthaan where 400-500 Sikh families reside, was “forcibly taken over”. “Pulled by my hair, I was dragged out in front of my wife Paramjit Kaur and three sons,” he said.

Having sustained injuries on April 4 when “thrashed” by PETPB officials in a similar bid to take over his house, he was on medical leave. 

However, PETPB claimed it had sought police assistance to help clear Gurdwara Chaal Langar Hall of illegal occupants. “Action is being taken against  all those occupying PETPB properties,” it said.

Gulaab Singh, who claimed the police action was illegal, alleged his house had been singled out at the behest of two influential persons, one of them a former president of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

“I had obtained a stay from court. The next hearing was on July 18. The house has been with my family since 1947 and we have been duly paying bills,” he said.

Appointed a traffic police officer in 2006, Gulaab Singh was posted as SI (Traffic Warden) at Mughalpura, Lahore.