Punjab Police appoints nine DSPs under sports quota

Six hockey stars and three other athletes were appointed appointed Deputy Superintendents of Police by the Punjab government. The recruitments are part of Punjab Police's efforts to revive its hockey team after ages.

Manpreet Singh is among the nine sportspersons, who have been appointed Deputy Superintendents of Police by Punjab Police.

Continuing its support for deserving sportspersons from the state, the Punjab government on Monday confirmed the appointments of six hockey players and three athletes with Punjab Police.

The appointment letters were handed out under the sports quota at an official function in Chandigarh by deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. All the nine sportspersons have been appointed Deputy Superintendents of Police. These include prolific midfielder Manpreet Singh, forwards Akashdeep Singh, Sarvanjit Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Dharamvir Singh – all six were part of the Indian men's hockey team that won the 2014 Asian Games Gold. Manpreet and Akashdeep were also part of the Indian team at the Rio Olympics and the Asian Champions Trophy this year.

While Manpreet comes over from Bharat Petroleum, Akashdeep and Gurvinder join from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Dharamvir was employed with Indian Oil and Ramandeep and Sarvanjit were part of the Punjab and Sind Bank set up.

The recruitments are part of Punjab Police's efforts to revive its team after ages. Of the six, however, only four continue to be part of the national team core probables with Sarvanjit and Gurvinder being sidelined due to a combination of poor form and injuries.

The three women athletes offered jobs are Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Mandeep Kaur, part of the famed Indian 4x400m group that was ranked best in the continent, race walker and Olympian Khushbir Kaur – both were employed with ONGC -- and Asian Games bronze medalist Amandeep Kaur.