Gurdaspur police arrest Shiv Sena leader Soni

The Gurdaspur police, after days of intense speculation, today arrested Harvinder Soni, vice president of the Punjab Shiv Sena (Thackeray), after he misbehaved with on-duty senior police officers.

An FIR was registered at the City police station against him for using “criminal force on a public servant in the course of discharging his duty.” Other relevant sections were also clamped on him.

SHO Davinder Parkash said on orders of SSP Aditya he and his staff had gone to his residence in the morning to inspect his security. “However, instead of cooperating with the police, he took a sheaf of papers and hurled it at one of my officers. He also started insulting us in a high-decibel voice,” said the SHO.

Sources said Soni had also hurled expletives at the on-duty policemen. “He also threatened policemen accompanying the SHO of dire consequences,” said an officer.

Soni had been under the lens for quite some time due to his antics which included misbehaving with his own security men and photo-shopping his old photographs with senior police officers to impress upon residents that he wielded a lot of influence.

Of late, he had been castigating senior police officers on social media platforms, a development which was not being taken lightly. Sources reveal officers were incensed at his behaviour.

Earlier, in November, 2022, he was arrested from his residence on the Gurdaspur-Batala road after he had an altercation with Nihangs. On April 13, 2015, a Sikh youth, Kashmir Singh, had fired at him in the Fish Park, barely yards away from the official residence of the Deputy Commissioner (DC). Since he was ranked high in the hit list of radical Sikhs, the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badala and DGP Sumedh Singh Saini made a dash from Chandigarh to the private hospital in Amritsar where he was admitted for treatment.

Following this incident, a threat perception report was prepared on the basis of which he was provided with nearly 20 guards. The guards of duty had recently complained that they were regularly insulted by him. “We are not even given drinking water or are given chairs to sit on. The driver given by the police was misused by him for personal errands,” said a security personnel.

Soni would also criticise his own guards on social media accounts. In the recent past, DIG (Border) Satinder Singh and SSPs of Batala and Gurdaspur, Suhail Qasim Mir and Harish Dayama respectively, had visited his residence ostensibly to check his security. On Soni’s request they got a photograph clicked with him. “That particular photo was photo-shopped numerous times by Soni just to tell people that it is normal for senior officers to visit his house,” said a guard posted at his residence.

Amritsar