Overwork takes its toll on cops

One event after another in Lahore became a challenge for the police. From the PSL matches to the Australian team's tour of Pakistan, from DIG operations to hundreds of personnel fell ill due to over work. There is an abundance of complaints by the police like extra duty hours, food distribution, non-availability of water and duty without umbrella in scorching heat.

The Pakistan Super League matches started at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore in February this year and continued for the whole month. About 8,000 police personnel were deployed on security duty. DIG Operations Dr. Abid Khan and SSP Operations Mustansir Feroze took the responsibility of taking the teams from the hotel to the ground and back to the hotel after the match. Chief Traffic Officer Muntazir Mehdi was responsible for keeping the route clear during the departure hours of the teams and ensuring the flow of traffic by installing diversions. Apart from the matches, all the programmes for the practice on the ground of the teams were arranged in the same manner.

Along with DIG Operations, SSP and Chief Traffic Officer, SP Security Rashid Hidayat and Divisional SPs were also on alert in the field from 8:00 am till 1:00 am. Along with these officers, about 8,000 personnel including SHOs and SDPOs of 84 police stations of the city were also deployed on duty. These SHOs and officials shared with The Express Tribune a number of complaints.

The first complaint of the SHOs was that all day long they were deployed outside their areas. Search operations were conducted at night and “we have only four to five hours of rest, but the officers are angry at the call of each incident and demanded a full account of the performance”. Police officials, on the other hand, told The Express Tribune that they were assigned to security two hours before the start of the match.

Meanwhile, several personnel complained that they were given a box of Biryani and a can of juice by the police headquarters. The Biryani was cold and the juice was warm. In addition, the food got rotten if it was left around for a while.