Chandigarh, April 7 -- After years of reluctance, the Punjab government has finally sent a panel of 14 senior IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission for shortlisting three candidates for the post of regular DGP in the state. According to information, 1992-batch IPS officers Sharad Satya Chauhan, Harpreet Singh Sidhu, Kuldeep Singh and incumbent DGP Gaurav Yadav are the top contenders. Also in contention are 1993-batch officers Gurpreet Kaur Deo, Jitendra Kumar Jain and Shashi Prabha Dwivedi. From the 1994 batch, the names include Sudhanshu Shekhar Srivastava, PK Sinha, Amardeep Singh Rai, V Neeraja, Anita Punj and Naresh Kumar. Yadav has been serving as acting DGP since July 2022, for over three-and-a-half years. As per rules, an officiating DGP can be appointed for a maximum of six months. Notably, despite UPSC reminders, Punjab had been reluctant to send a panel for a regular DGP appointment. In February, the Supreme Court has pulled up states for the "acting DGP culture"....