Former DGP Virk Arrested for Corruption
Applaud Vigilance Bureau for Investigating Corrupt Officials

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 12, 2007 – Former Punjab Director General of Police S.S. Virk was arrested Sunday by the Vigilance Bureau (a state agency of Punjab) for corruption. He had amassed wealth in excess of 100 crore (100 million) rupees. This was far in excess of what he received from his position as DGP. He was also charged with misuse of his official position, making private business deals as a public servant. Virk had arrangements with “Cats,” former “militants” who turned to working for the Indian regime, to kill Sikhs throughout Punjab. While Virk was amassing this wealth, half of the population of India continues to subsist on less than two dollars per day.

Hours after his arrest, he was hospitalized with high blood pressure and gallstones. A case was registered against him under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Virk had been removed as DGP shortly before the Punjab elections earlier this year. He had been suspended by the Badal government shortly after it came to power in February. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has openly supported Virk. “We are amazed that someone of the stature of Captain Amarinder Singh supports the corruption and the killing of Sikhs under S. S. Virk’s regime,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. Virk was quoted as saying that “everyone in the world” keeps agents like the “Cats.” “Even if that were true, that does not relieve him of his responsibility,” Dr. Aulakh said. “No law enforcement agency should be allowed to murder ordinary citizens. If they break the law, they should be tried in the court and punishment should be determined by the courts, not by police officials.”

Virk claimed that his arrest was a “political victimization and vendetta.” The Badal family, during their prior term in office, ran the most corrupt government in Punjab’s history. They practiced corruption on a grand scale. Unless they were paid a bribe (which they renamed “fee for service”), no service was provided. Former DGP K.P.S. Gill presided over the murders of more than 50,000 extrajudicial killings, which were exposed by the Punjab Human Rights Organization (PHRO) in a study begun by Sardar Jaswant Singh Khalra, who was picked up by the police in September 1995 and murdered in police custody in October of that year.

“We salute the arrest of S.S. Virk,” said Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan. “We are glad that he is under arrest. There shouldn’t be any corruption in high places,” Dr. Aulakh said. “When will Badal, Gill, and the others responsible for high-level corruption and atrocities against the Sikh nation be arrested?” he asked.

“In a free Khalistan, no one would accept those who carry out genocide against the Sikh religion and the Sikh Nation or against any other people. They would all be arrested, not just selectively arrested to cover the corruption of the leaders ordering the arrest” said Dr. Aulakh.

Dr. Aulakh also cited the cae of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi, a “Cat,” who was reported as killed. Someone was killed in his place, his identity was changed, and he was used by the police to kill Sikhs. “Who was killed in Sukhi’s place?” asked Dr. Aulakh. Several years ago, a Sikh man who had been reported as killed by the police went to court to force the government to declare him alive.

A report issued by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR) shows that India admitted that it held 52,268 political prisoners under the repressive “Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act” (TADA), which expired in 1995. Many have been in illegal custody since 1984. According to Amnesty International, there are tens of thousands of other minorities being held as political prisoners in India. The Indian government has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland, over 90,000 Muslims in Kashmir, tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims throughout the country, and tens of thousands of Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, Dalits, Bodos, and others. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide.”

“The time is now to launch a Shantmai Morcha to free Khalistan,” Dr. Aulakh said. “That is the only way to prevent this kind of corruption and allow the Sikh Nation to live in freedom, peace, dignity, and prosperity. The time has come for some pro-Sikh organizations such as Dal Khalsa and others to step forward in Punjab and accelerate our struggle for the liberation of Khalistan,” he said. “Religions cannot flourish without political power. We must free Khalistan now.”

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This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab. The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.