Centre, Punjab lock horns over IGP posting

DIG Ops ‘oversteps’ authority, conducts surprise visits, punishes SHOs

ISLAMABAD:

The Shehbaz-led government in the centre and Maryam-led government in Punjab have locked horns over the appointment of the Islamabad police chief for the last four days, throwing the entire police working out of gear, forcing three senior Deputy Inspector General (DIGs) of Police to seek leave and inviting a junior DIG to decide the operational matters.

After the departure of IGP Dr Akbar Nasir Khan and the Punjab government’s refusal to relieve Lahore DIG Operations Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi, who was earlier appointed as the Islamabad police chief, the sitting Islamabad DIG Operations has reportedly started exercising the powers of the IGP.

Rizvi has yet to assume the charge of his office and the federal government has not cancelled his notification. Three senior DIGs of the Islamabad police -- Malik Owais, Hassan Raza Khan and Shoaib Khurram Janbaz -- have already applied for leave after the appointment of DIG Ali Nasir Rizvi as the Islamabad IGP. But they are still discharging their duties.

Sources in the Islamabad police said taking the liberty of the absence of the IGP, DIG Operations Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari has started ‘aggressive’ surprise visits to the police stations and a series of punishments and rewards.

On Monday, he dismissed SHOs of two police stations, suspended seven others from service over poor performance and made new appointments on Tuesday.

The DIG operations, they added, suspended some cops from service after the outgoing IG proceeded on a foreign trip a couple of months back.

Reportedly, the meeting was held under the chair of the DIG Operations on Monday to review the crime situation. The SSP Operations, Zonal DPOs, SDPOs and all the officers and Moharras of police stations participated.

During the meeting, the performance of all the police stations was reviewed and each officer was investigated separately. Abpara SHO Sub Inspector Shafaqtullah and Sahala SHO Altaf Hussain were dismissed from service for poor performance, while SHOs of seven police stations were also suspended. Among those suspended are Margalla SHO Muhammad Hayat and Ramna SHO Shamsul Akbar, Sangjani SHO Fazal Khaliq, Nellore SHO Imran, Koral SHO Malik Rasheed, Lohi Bhir SHO Asim Ghafar and Hamak SHO Akhtar Zaman are included.

On the other hand, the I-9 and Karachi Company SHOs were awarded for their good performance. All other SHOs were given four days to improve their performance.

The DIG operations made it clear that all the personnel would remain in the police station and any official duty in the field would be subject to the permission of the DPO concerned. He further directed to accelerate the crackdown against wanted criminals and strengthen control at the checkpoints.

Bukhari further made it clear that corruption and unethical behaviour won’t be tolerated in the force and that there would be no compromise on an increase in the crime ratio. He gave four days to all the officers to improve their performance, and otherwise face punishments.

He ordered a more effective patrolling mechanism for the Dolphin Squad and Mobile Patrolling Unit with zero tolerance against bribery, corruption and misbehaviour with citizens. The DIG also threw his weight behind effective action against organised and active gangs to combat crime.

The DIG further directed the Investigation Officers to improve investigation skills and submit challans of cases in time.

New appointments

The DIG Operations appointed eight new SHOs in place of dismissed and suspended officers. According to a notification issued on Tuesday.

Sohail Ahmad has been appointed Koral SHO, Haider Ali Nilore SHO, Asif Khan Ramna SHO, Margalla Mehboob Hasan, Khurram Shabbir Aabpara SHO, Gul Khan Sihala SHO, Ashiq Khan Sangjani SHO, Nawazish Ali has been appointed Banigala SHO. The newly-appointed SHOs have already served the capital’s police stations as SHOs.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2024.