Who was Kanwar Pal Singh aka KPS Gill? Career and Controversy of Punjab ‘Super Cop’ Amid ‘Satluj’ Series | Today’s news
Diljit Dosanjh starrer Satluj has fueled an endless debate about the legacy of controversial Punjab police officer Kanwar Pal Singh (KPS) Gill. Was he really a “super cop” or a symbol of institutional overreach? After a series of setbacks, the film was recently released on Zee5 but was pulled a few days later.
Here’s everything you need to know about KPS Gill’s career and controversies:
KPS Gill first became Punjab’s Director General of Police in 1988. His appointment came amid the rise of the Khalistan separatist movement and just four years after Operation Blue Star and the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later that year.
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Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian Army in June 1984 at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar to disarm and expel Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale – the leader of the Khalistan movement.
Punjab has witnessed escalating violence following these events in history and as the DGP of Punjab, Gill had a tough task. To counter the Khalistani insurgency, he launched a counter-insurgency campaign.
‘superpolice’ brand
Operation Black Thunder II was one of the most significant operations during Gill’s tenure. It was launched in May 1988, PTC News reported.
Under Operation Black Thunder II, unlike Operation Blue Star, security forces surrounded the Golden Temple complex, negotiated with the militants and conducted a carefully planned operation that resulted in much less damage to the shrine, the report added.
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Gill completed his first term as Punjab DGP in December 1990 before briefly heading the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). He returned as Punjab DGP in late 1991 with the support of then Chief Minister Beant Singh.
It was during his second term that Gill began to adopt an aggressive strategy against militant groups.
According to PTC News, Gill’s approach relied on “better intelligence gathering, strengthening local police, rewarding officers involved in counter-militancy operations and maintaining constant pressure on insurgent organizations.”
In the mid-1990s, violence in Punjab declined sharply and the Khalistan insurgency was largely defeated.
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Those who supported Gill held him in high esteem for taking on the Khalistani insurgency through an aggressive counter-insurgency campaign and restoring law and order in the state, earning him the reputation of a “super cop”.
Gill, however, rejected the idea that there had ever been a clearly defined movement for Khalistan – a proposed independent Sikh state carved out of the Indian state of Punjab.
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“There was never a movement for Khalistan. Even (Jarnail Singh) Bhindranwale rarely said it so clearly. He made a statement (for Khalistan), then denied it and then denied the denial. Bhindranwale and his ideologues used the Two Nation Theory, the same verbiage,” KPS Gill said in an interview with the India Today movement on Khaani Magazine.
Accusations of human rights violations
While Gill’s supporters called him a “supercop” for breaking the back of Khalistan separatists, human rights groups accused the Punjab police of carrying out fake encounters, custodial killings and enforced disappearances during the counter-insurgency campaign.
There have also been allegations of torture and secret mass cremations.
Gill has consistently defended the Punjab Police, arguing that extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary action to defeat terrorism, reports PTC News.
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Stories by human rights groups and the dramatization in the film Satluj painted a much darker picture of Gill’s tenure.
Critics argued that peace in Punjab was achieved not through law enforcement but through systemic state terror.
Jaswant Singh Khalra
Among the most talked about chapters of Gill’s career was the disappearance and murder of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra – the central character of the film ‘Satluj’.
Bank manager-turned-activist Jaswant Singh Khalra investigated municipal records to uncover thousands of unidentified bodies secretly cremated by security forces.
He alleged that these cremations were carried out by the Punjab Police during the militancy years.
Khalra himself was abducted from his residence in Amritsar on 6 September 1995.
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He was allegedly murdered by police personnel in 1995, an incident that remains a symbol of institutional overreach.
A CBI investigation later concluded that Khalra was illegally detained and murdered. However, his body was never found.
According to reports, six members of the Punjab Police have been convicted for Khalra’s abduction and murder.
Gill was never charged or convicted in the case and has repeatedly denied any role.
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However, eyewitnesses and human rights activists continued to claim that he was part of a larger conspiracy.
Meanwhile, critics of the activist’s narrative argued that by focusing only on police excesses, they often downplayed the immense brutality of the Khalistan militants, who routinely massacred innocent civilians, murdered political opponents and terrorized the local population, News 18 reported.
Gill’s retirement
Gill retired as Punjab DGP on 31 December 1995 after receiving several extensions of service due to the security situation of the state.
His retirement came just months after Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh was assassinated in a bomb blast by the Khalistani terrorist organization Babbar Khalsa International in Chandigarh.
After his retirement, Gill reportedly founded the Institute of Conflict Management in New Delhi. He has written and spoken on terrorism, policing and national security.
A case of sexual harassment
In 1996, Gill was convicted sexually harassing senior IAS officer Rupan Deol Bajaj during an official meeting.
The case attracted national attention and became one of the most high-profile sexual harassment cases involving a senior police officer.
Gill later served as president of the Indian Hockey Federation and continued to comment on national security issues.
In 2012, campaigners in the United Kingdom successfully opposed his visit to the London Olympics, accusing him of being responsible for widespread human rights abuses during counter-insurgency operations in Punjab.
He remains one of the most debated figures in police history. To his admirers, Gill was a “supercop” who effectively countered the insurgency, but according to his critics, the return to normality came at the cost of serious human rights concerns that have never been fully addressed.
