Who was Kanwar Pal Singh aka KPS Gill? Career and controversies of Punjab’s ‘super cop’ amid ‘Satluj’ row

Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj has ignited the never-ending debate over the legacy of the controversial Punjab cop, Kanwar Pal Singh (KPS) Gill. Was he indeed a ‘super cop’ or a symbol of institutional overreach? After a series of setbacks, the film was recently released on Zee5, but was taken down just days later.

Here’s all 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 the execution of Operation Blue Star, and the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later that year.

Operation Blue Star was carried out by the Indian Army in June 1984 at the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar to disarm and dislodge Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a leading figure for the Khalistan movement.

Punjab witnessed escalating violence following these events, and as the Punjab DGP, Gill had an uphill task. To counter the Khalistani insurgency, he launched an anti-terrorism campaign.

The ‘super cop’ tag

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, security forces, unlike Operation Blue Star, surrounded the Golden Temple complex, negotiated with militants and carried out a carefully planned operation that resulted in far less damage to the shrine, the report added.

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 backing of the then Chief Minister Beant Singh.

It was during his second tenure that Gill began adopting an aggressive strategy against militant groups.

As per PTC News, Gill’s approach relied on “better intelligence gathering, strengthening local policing, rewarding officers involved in anti-militancy operations and maintaining constant pressure on insurgent organisations”.

By the mid-1990s, violence in Punjab had sharply declined, and the Khalistani insurgency had largely been defeated.

Those supporting Gill highly credited him 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".

But Gill had dismissed 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.

"There was never a movement for Khalistan. Even [Jarnail Singh] Bhindranwale rarely said so clearly. He would make a statement [for Khalistan], then deny it, and then deny the denial. Bhindranwale and his ideologues used the Two-Nation Theory, the same verbiage," KPS Gill has told India Today magazine in an interview in 1993, while speaking on the Khalistani movement.

Allegations of human rights violations

While Gill’s supporters called him a “super cop” for breaking the back of Khalistani separatists, human rights organisations accused the Punjab Police of carrying out fake encounters, custodial killings and enforced disappearances during the anti-insurgency campaign.

There were also allegations of torture and secret mass cremations.

Gill consistently defended the Punjab Police, maintaining that extraordinary circumstances required extraordinary action to defeat terrorism, according to PTC News.

The narratives from human rights groups and the dramatisation in the film Satluj painted a far 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's murder

Among the most debated chapters of Gill's career was the disappearance and murder of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra — the character central to the film ‘Satluj.’

Bank manager-turned-activist Jaswant Singh Khalra had investigated municipal records to uncover thousands of unidentified bodies cremated secretly by security forces.

He claimed that these cremations had been carried out by the Punjab Police during the militancy years.

Khalra himself was abducted from outside his residence in Amritsar on 6 September 1995.

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 had been illegally detained and murdered. His body, however, has never been recovered.

According to reports, six Punjab Police personnel were convicted for kidnapping and murdering Khalra.

Gill was never chargesheeted or convicted in the case and repeatedly denied any role.

However, eyewitness accounts and human rights activists continued to allege that he was part of the larger conspiracy.

Meanwhile, critics of the activist’s narrative argued that by focusing solely on police excesses, such narratives frequently downplay the immense brutality of the Khalistani militants, who routinely massacred innocent civilians, assassinated political opponents, and terrorised the local population, News 18 reported.

Gill's retirement

Gill retired as Punjab DGP on 31 December 1995, after receiving multiple service extensions due to the state's security situation.

His retirement came only months after Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh was assassinated in a bomb blast carried out by Khalistani terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International in Chandigarh.

After his retirement, Gill reportedly established the Institute of Conflict Management in New Delhi. He wrote and spoke on terrorism, policing and national security.

Sexual harassment case

In 1996, Gill was convicted of sexually harassing senior IAS officer Rupan Deol Bajaj during an official gathering.

The case drew 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 responsibility for widespread human rights violations during Punjab's anti-insurgency operations.

Gill died in 2017.

He remains one of the most debated figures in the history of policing. To his admirers, Gill was a ‘super cop’ who effectively countered insurgency, but to his critics, the return to normalcy came at the cost of serious human rights concerns that have never been fully addressed.