DW BUREAU / Chandigarh The Punjab Government has voluntary retired IG Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a 1998-batch IPS officer, who was probing the 2015 sacrilege cases involving Behbal Kalan and Kotkapura incidents. A notification to this effect was issued by the State Government on Tuesday saying that the officer has been retired from service with effect from April 15, 2021 in exercise of proviso (2) laid down under Rule 16 (2) of the All India Services (Dealth-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 by relaxing three months notice period. According to the proviso under Rule 16 (2), a member of the service may after giving at lease three months previous notice in writing to the State Government concerned, retire from service on the date which such member completes thirty years of qualifying service or attains fifty years of age or on any date thereafter to be specified in the notice, provided that no member of the service under suspension shall retire from service except with the specific approval of the Central Government. Further, the State Government concerned on a request made by the member of the service may, if satisfied and for reasons to be recorded in writing, relax the period of notice. Kunwar who had submitted his resignation to the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on April 11, 2021 served as IGP, Intelligence (OCCU), Punjab, SAS Nagar and in addition IG Counter Intelligence, Amritsar. The notification which was issued by Punjab's Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Justice) Anurag Agarwal, said that these orders are without prejudice to the pending DE/VE/CBI case/court cases/ criminal cases etc, if any. It may be mentioned that after Kunwar had sought premature retirement from the service, the Chief Minister had earlier refused to accept his resignation. Kunwar's resignation came after an order of the Punjab and Haryana high court quashing the probe led by him in two cases of police firing and also ordering the State Government to reconstitute the SIT, excluding Kunwar Vijay Pratap. The former IG headed the SIT of the Punjab police, probing the 2015 police action in Kotkapura and Behbal Kalan in Faridkot district against people protesting over the alleged desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib. Two people were killed in the police firing. (editor@dailyworld.in)