Assistant Commissioner removed for ‘abusive behaviour’ in Islamabad

Ali Asghar had reportedly misbehaved with the husband of Excise and Taxation director

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Chief Commissioner Zulfiqar Haider on Friday removed Assistant Commissioner Captain (retd) Ali Asghar after he reportedly misbehaved with the husband of Islamabad Excise and Taxation Director Marium Mumtaz.

According to sources, during the polio-vaccination drive, a team of vaccinators went to the day-care centre and school running in lane 72 of Sector G-6/4. However, the management of the day-care centre refused vaccinators access to the children. When a refusal report was filed, Islamabad DC Capt (retd) Mushtaq Ahmed directed AC Asghar to head to the spot, control the situation, resolve the matter amicably and convince the management of the day-care centre management to allow the polio team to vaccinate the children.

The AC spoke with the school’s management and they agreed to allow inoculators to administer oral polio vaccine (OPV) to the children. All the children, except one girl, were administered the drops. On this, the school’s management called the girl’s father who came immediately.

The girl’s father said he was the husband of Islamabad Excise and Taxation Director Marium Mumtaz and refused to allow the vaccination team to immunise his child. This led to an alleged verbal spat between the AC and the father. Soon, Mumtaz called Asghar and said that he had misbehaved with her husband.

When the Islamabad Chief Commissioner Zulfiqar Haider found out about the incident, he sought an explanation from Asghar.  In a letter, Haider told Asghar that complaints of his bad behaviour and harassing people have been received in the past as well, therefore he should explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him.

Later, the chief commissioner, while handing over services of Asghar to the federal government, wrote in a letter that his services were no more required in the Islamabad Capital Territory, therefore, he should be transferred somewhere else.

Asghar was subsequently asked to report to the establishment division.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2017.