Cops caught posing as senior officers

2 ASIs turn up for court dressed as SIs.

LAHORE: Two police officials of the rank of assistant sub inspector (ASI) have been caught posing as sub inspectors (SI) in courthouses in Lahore.

The first case involved ASI Riaz Ahmed of Shafiqabad police station, who was to appear before the court of Additional Session Judge Muhammad Akram Chaudhry last month. Advocate Muhammad Asif Chattha, appearing for the other side, told the court that when he had seen the ASI outside, he was actually wearing two stars on his uniform, signifying that he was an SI. The advocate said he had asked the ASI if he had been promoted, but the policeman did not answer the question and walked away. But when the ASI walked into the courtroom, he was wearing one star only and had probably hid the other in his pocket, Chattha said.

Ahmed initially suggested that the court should not concern itself with his status. When the judge ordered that he be searched for the second star, he confessed that he had been demoted from SI to ASI in 2009 and that he had bought the star a few days ago from Qila Gujjar Singh. He said that he was working as an ASI and pointed out that he had not pretended to the court to be an SI.

The judge referred the case to the Lahore police chief for an inquiry and legal action.

A similar case happened in the Lahore High Court in December with ASI Muhammad Ramazan of Raiwind police station. A lawyer told the court that he had asked the ASI why he had turned up dressed as an SI, to which the policeman had responded that he did not pay attention to such minor matters. Justice Muhammad Farrukh Irfan Khan asked Ramazan directly whether he was an ASI or SI. The policeman admitted that he had been demoted from an SI to an ASI. Justice Khan asked him why he was wearing an SI’s uniform, to which he remained silent. The judge ordered that he be suspended an FIR be lodged against him under Section 170 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Advocate Muhammad Naeem Malik told The Express Tribune that the ASIs’ actions were probably motivated by bruised egos. “Police officials who get demoted to a lower rank often do not stop wearing their old uniform out of embarrassment,” he said. He said that the station house officers were also responsible for this practice as it was their job to make sure that the policemen working under them do not.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd,  2011.