Warning against indiscipline in the police on the issue, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Saturday asserted that anyone not happy with Harpreet Sidhu’s re-posting as STF chief was welcome to leave the State and seek deputation with the Central Government.

Reacting to reports indicating resentment over Sidhu’s re-appointment, the Chief Minister, who also holds the Home portfolio, said it was his prerogative to transfer or post any police officer in the interest of the state.

“If any officer has problems with his orders, such an officer can say so and seek a deputation with the Centre,” said the Chief Minister, making it clear that he would not allow anyone to scuttle his decision.

Media reports had it that there was resentment among some senior police officers against Sidhu’s posting. The reports suggested that some police officers had conveyed the displeasure at his being re-appointed as STF chief on the plea that he had earlier caused embarrassment to the former DGP by summoning his aide Raj Jit Singh in an alleged drugs case.

The decision to re-appoint ADGP Sidhu as STF chief comes amid reports of drugs becoming an issue again in the state.

While he had not received any complaints on Sidhu’s re-appointment from any quarters, the Chief Minister, reacting to reports, said his decision was motivated by the best interests of the state. Any objection to the move amounted to indiscipline, for which there was no place in any police force, he added.

The Chief Minister also denied reports that Sidhu had written to him and sought a central deputation.

Sidhu was the first chief of the STF constituted by Capt Amarinder soon after he took over as Chief Minister in 2017. The STF, under Sidhu, made remarkable progress in dealing with the problem drugs, which had assumed menacing proportions under the BJP-SAD rule, to destroy many young lives.