G-B police promotions raise eyebrows

48 cases emerged where due process had not completed

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) police department has been accused of making some questionable promotions, mostly under the watch of former inspector general Zafar Iqbal Awan, who was recently posted elsewhere after a two-year stint.

“There are almost 48 cases where undue favour was shown to certain officers,’’ a police insider told The Express Tribune on Saturday. He said the promotions had seriously demoralised other members of police force.

The first of these irregularities took place when six policemen were promoted for arresting wanted terrorists carrying head money According to a notification letter back in November 2015, the police personnel were promoted to next grades ‘for showing extraordinary performance.’ The directive, however, sparked unrest among the ranks of G-B policemen.



In 2016, another 22 policemen were awarded ‘shoulder promotions’ to defuse the situation. Similarly, three female sub-inspectors were also promoted in 2016. This was done via merging the seniority lists of women and male police staff which further compounded the situation for deserving personnel.

In stark contrast, a genuine case of promotion of a police inspector and a constable -- recommended last year by the governor for defusing a bomb – was turned down, as it was deemed unconstitutional and against the injunctions of Islam.

Police DIG Sabir Ahmed who is acting as the IGP hinted in a high-level meeting at reversing such cases in accordance with the apex court orders. Ahmed said that officers that fail to pass various departmental training courses would not be promoted, according to a recent press release.