The release of Satluj which was previously titled Punjab '95, has brought fresh attention to former Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, better known as KPS Gill and the film is based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and has led to public discussion about whether one of its fictional police characters was inspired by Gill however, the filmmakers have not officially confirmed that the character DGP Inderpal Singh Bitta is based on KPS Gill, while many viewers have pointed to similarities, there is no official statement from the makers or in the film credits identifying Gill as the inspiration, therefore, such comparisons remain public speculation and not an established fact.
KPS Gill joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1958 and spent nearly 28 years serving in the northeastern states of Assam and Meghalaya and by 1980, he had become the Inspector General of Police in Assam, during his time in the Northeast, he gained experience in handling insurgency and militant groups and in 1984, he returned to his home state of Punjab, where militancy had become a major security challenge.
KPS Gill served as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Punjab in two terms, first from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1991 to 1995 and one of the best-known operations under his leadership was Operation Black Thunder in May 1988. The operation targeted militants who had taken shelter inside the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.
Unlike the earlier Operation Blue Star in 1984, Operation Black Thunder involved a long siege and was carried out with comparatively limited use of force and according to official accounts, around 66 militants surrendered during the operation, while 44 people were killed, government officials said the operation avoided large-scale civilian casualties.
By 1991, Punjab had witnessed years of violence linked to militancy and thousands of people had lost their lives, in 1992, the Government of India again assigned Gill the responsibility of leading Punjab Police to restore law and order.
Official figures showed that violence reduced significantly during the following years and the number of deaths linked to militancy dropped sharply by 1993, many supporters credited Gill's policing strategy for helping restore peace in Punjab.
While many praised Gill for reducing militancy, his methods were also widely criticised, during his tenure, Punjab Police introduced a reward system that offered cash incentives, including rewards of ₹50,000, for encounters involving wanted militants. Critics argued that the policy encouraged fake encounters and unlawful killings. Human rights groups also alleged that fear of the police increased during this period and these allegations became one of the biggest controversies of Gill's career.
Human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra investigated allegations that thousands of unidentified bodies had been secretly cremated in Punjab during the years of militancy and Khalra alleged that more than 2,000 secret cremations had taken place in Amritsar alone and over 25,000 across Punjab between 1984 and 1994, in 1995, Khalra disappeared and the case was later investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). In 1996, nine Punjab Police officers were prosecuted in connection with the case and six of them were later convicted.
KPS Gill denied any direct involvement in illegal killings or Khalra's disappearance however, his leadership of Punjab Police during that period has kept his name at the centre of debates over alleged fake encounters, custodial torture and human rights violations.
Apart from controversies related to policing, Gill also faced legal action in a sexual harassment case, in 1988, senior IAS officer Rupan Deol Bajaj accused Gill of sexually harassing her during an official gathering in Chandigarh and after a long legal battle that lasted about 17 years, Gill was convicted by a court and he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and fined ₹2 lakh, the conviction became one of the most high-profile sexual harassment cases involving a senior public official in India.
KPS Gill retired from the IPS in 1995 and after retirement, he founded the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), where he served as president. He also wrote extensively on internal security and terrorism and over the years, he worked as a security advisor for different state governments, in 2000, he was consulted by Sri Lanka's foreign minister on anti-terrorism matters and in 2002, after the Godhra train burning and the Gujarat riots, he was appointed Security Advisor to the Gujarat government when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister and later, in 2013, Gill said that the Gujarat riots reflected a failure of policing and described the police response during the riots as ineffective, In 2006, he was also appointed Security Advisor to the Chhattisgarh government. He also wrote the book The Knights of Falsehood, published in 1997.
Following the release of Satluj, many viewers have suggested that the fictional character DGP Inderpal Singh Bitta resembles KPS Gill because of the character's senior position in Punjab Police during the militancy period however, there is no official confirmation from the filmmakers that the character is based on KPS Gill while another police character in the film, SSP Surjit Singh Sugga, is widely believed to be inspired by former Punjab Police officer Ajit Singh Sandhu, who was named as an accused during the CBI investigation into the abduction and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Like many films based on real events, Satluj changes names and fictionalises several characters and incidents, until the filmmakers officially identify the inspiration behind DGP Inderpal Singh Bitta, any comparison with KPS Gill remains speculation.
KPS Gill passed away in 2017 at the age of 82 and many people still remember him as the police officer who helped end militancy and bring peace back to Punjab while some people criticise his time as police officer and they say he was involved in encounters torture while in custody and people disappearing, they also say these things happened during the time of insurgency. Gill always said he was trying to make India safe from terrorism even if his choices were not popular and thought these choices were necessary and today KPS Gill is still a topic of debate in the history of Indian policing as some people think he helped bring peace to Punjab while others say that peace came at a cost with many human rights problems.
