Black sheep in police

The police force mostly deals with crimes and criminals to enforce order, but sometimes it has to deal with criminals within its own ranks. Cases out of the ordinary occur when some policemen themselves do what they are not supposed to do. There are black sheep in the police, but such rotten stuff is there in every sphere of life. On Nov 7 in Karachi, the police arrested a head constable of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell on a charge of kidnapping two sisters. Another four officials of the ACLC too are involved in the abduction. The cops had kidnapped the sisters on Oct 21, and initially a ransom of Rs1 million was demanded. They, however, released the captives after taking Rs15,000 in cash and some gold ornaments. The sisters have identified the arrested kidnapper and the police van which was used for the crime has been traced. Some officials of the police department are reportedly trying to put pressure on the investigation officer of the case to get the arrested cop freed. The investigation officer has firmly refused to release the suspected accused nor have his team members given up chasing the fugitives from the law.

It is heartening to note that the police are swiftly proceeding to weed out the black sheep from their own ranks. Lately, several cases of ordinary citizens impersonating policemen have been reported in Lahore and Rawalpindi. Some have been arrested, and the Punjab police department has taken effective steps to prevent such crimes, because the trend of impersonating cops makes it difficult for people to distinguish genuine policemen from criminals. However, we would like to be enlightened whether the policemen arrested for involvement in crime are barred from the police or other government departments. All in all, the police department is doing a good job. Of course, there are a few leg-pullers in the force, but it also has cops who pull crooked legs straight.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2020.

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