Police corruption: Who will monitor the monitors?

Police officials manning check posts ‘extort money’.

ISLAMABAD: Poor supervision and monitoring is affecting the performance of capital police as police officials manning check posts have allegedly started extorting money from citizens.

“Earlier, the police used to offer various excuses for this sorry state of affairs, including low salary,” an official source told The Express Tribune.

He said several complaints have been received at the offices of senior police officers against policemen for poor attitude and malpractices such as bribery.

Different police pickets generally known ‘nakas’ are proving hot cakes for corrupt police officials, adding that muharars are also part of this dirty practice, he said.

He said that police officials blackmail citizens’, declaring them suspects at first sight, adding that people living in rural areas are badly exploited.

The source said that a recent report disclosed that a former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) had penalised more than 900 personnel of the capital police for poor performance, involvement in illegal activities and corrupt practices.

Another reason behind the practice that allows police personnel to exploit the citizens as senior officers are avoiding suspension of corrupt officials, citing staff shortage.

The source said that police officials are not only extorting money from the citizens but also exploiting them morally. He said that in recent past a police official manning a police picket teased a woman who turned out to be a police officer’s wife.

Senior Superintend of Police (SSP) Operations Malik Yousaf said that he had taken action and decided to rotate the policemen manning police pickets to avoid such incidents.

He said that this would deter muharars from deploying their favourites at certain pinots for extortion.

Yousaf said stern action would be taken against them.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2011.