A letter from the state Election Commission (EC) on late Sunday evening sent the Ludhiana police in panic. The letter was sent to all the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) across the state over the code of conduct violation. The notice sought the immediate transfer of 14 station house officers, who had been transferred on March 2 after 3.30 pm, to the Police Lines.

Later, when the police department sent a request to the EC that the transfer orders of the said SHOs were issued before the election code of conduct came into force, that the transfer order was nullified.

The EC had sent the directions to all SSPs in the state on late Sunday evening. The EC had issued these directions as after announcement of the general elections, the model code of conduct came in force on March 2 at 3.30 pm.

According to the police sources, SHOs of Division number 1, Division number 2, Division number 4, Division number 5, Division number 6, Division number 8, Shimlapuri, Salem Tabri, Sahnewal, Sarabha Nagar, Sadar, Laddowal, Marriage Dispute Cell and NRI police station had their fate hanging for over a day.

Sources said that after receiving the letter, the police had sent all the SHOs to the Police Lines on Sunday evening itself to comply with the EC directions. The police also sent a request to the state EC stating that the transfer orders were passed on March 1 and thus their transfers did not violate the model code of conduct.