Over 90 SHOs penalised for not registering cases
PHOTO: FILE
Regional Police Officer (RPO) Imran Ahmar has taken action against 94 SHOs after issuing more than 700 show-cause notices for not registering 15,000 cases over calls made by citizens to the helpline 15.
After submission of the replies, severe action was taken against the 94 SHOs who could not give a satisfactory explanation. Their service period was reduced by six months to three years.
The RPO reportedly visited the six districts of the region and sought ten record of calls received on the helpline in Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal and Hafizabad during past three months.
Thousands of calls had been received for help in connection with crimes and other incidents during the period.
Teams formed by the RPO for the inquiries revealed that there were more than 15,000 calls to which the police did not respond and register cases. After the revelation, RPO Imran Ahmar issued over six show-cause notices on average to every SHO and sought a reply within a week.
All the SHOs submitted replies, after which the RPO summoned the heads of police stations of Gujranwala city to his office and inquired from those of remote districts through online meetings.
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The regional police chief took action against the station house officers (SHOs) who could not reply satisfactorily to the charges about not registering cases over the phone calls or keep them pending.
He ordered punitive action against 94 SHOs. Officials told The Express Tribune that the highest number of SHOs facing the action were serving in the Gujranwala district.
The RPO reduced the seniority by six months to three years of 35 SHOs of Gujranwala district, 17 of Sialkot, 13 of Gujrat, 10 of Mandi Bahauddin, 11 of Narowal and eight of Hafizabad.
SHO Zubair Siyal of Satellite Town Police Station and Sajid Sohail of Nowshera Virkan were suspended. The RPO ordered immediate registration of the cases over the citizen’s reported complaints and warned of action against officials showing negligence in this regard in the future.
He said such officials were not fit for the department. He directed the officials to pursue inquiries regarding the cases.
The RPO said the complainants called the police with high hopes and irresponsible attitude of the officials would weaken the trust of the citizens, which might affect the department’s reputation.
He said all out efforts should be made to solve the cases and arrest the absconders. The RPO warned that anyone who wanted to keep serving in the department would have to work honestly.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2021.