Chandigarh, October 11: Former Punjab cabinet minister and Akali leader Bibi Jagir Kaur used fake registration numbers on her private vehicles. She has also been using a red light atop her personal vehicle without entitlement. Security wing of Punjab Police says that she is not permitted to use a red light. The information regarding her vehicles bearing fake registration numbers came to the fore inadvertently, in a response by the Punjab Police to an RTI query. Documents are exclusively available with News24.

Bibi Jagir Kaur, aslo former SGPC president, lost assembly election from Bholath constituency in Kapurthala Dist. in 2007. She, however, continued to use a red light atop her private vehicles. Congress MLA from Bholath Sukhpal Khaira filed an RTI application in the month of January this year, to know from the Punjab Police whether Bibi Jagir Kaur was entitled to use a red light or not. In a response to this the PIO of Punjab Police informed Khaira that “Bibi Jagir Kaur’s vehicles do not carry any red lights”.

Khaira then approached the State Information Commission with videos showing Bibi Jagir Kaur being escorted by a security gypsy (PB 08 U 3774), Bibi coming out of an SUV (PB 08 W 5553) carrying a red light at Kapurthala. Video also showed SSP Kapurthala, Ram Singh welcoming Bibi Jagir Kaur when she had reached there to assume the charge of the Chairperson, District Planning Board in July.

In a response to State Information Commission’s notice ADGP security of Punjab Police informed Khaira that SSP Kapurthala has been directed to check the vehicles shown in the video and act according to the law. It further stated that the registration number of Bibi Jagir Kaur’s security vehicle PB 08 U 3774 was actually allotted to a scooter, and her security gypsy’s actual number was PB 08 U 3774 (TEMP) and word ‘TEMP’ was mistakenly not written. And PB 08 W 5553 (TEMP), carried by her own SUV, was actually allotted to an Innova car by Toyota vehicle agency in Jalandhar.

On asking about this Bibi said “this is all baseless, why would I use fake numbers on my vehicle and I don’t use a red light. This is the handiwork of Khaira who always tries to malign me”.

Even more interestingly, SSP Kapurthala Ram Singh wrote to the Chief Information Officer, Punjab to inform “so far it hasn’t been found that Bibi Jagir Kaur did use a red light on her vehicle. But, district police is investigating the matter and will act accordingly”. But the videos clearly show SSP Ram Singh welcoming Bibi as soon as she came out of her SUV, that not only carried a red light without permission but also a fake number, which is illegal and a crime punishable by law.

Sukhpal Khaira is now demanding registration of a criminal case against Bibi Jagir Kaur for indulging in a criminal activity by using fake registration numbers on her vehicles. He has also demanded that police officials who are trying to cover up the matter be taken to task. “This is gross misuse of power, not only by the Akali govt. of Punjab which is letting this go on but also by the officials who provided me with wrong information . If they can do this to an MLA, one can imagine the fate of common man,” said Khaira.