Six cops dismissed after constable held with drugs

FAISALABAD:

The Faisalabad City Police Officer (CPO) has dismissed six police personnel, including the Gulberg station house officer (SHO), after a police constable was arrested with five kilogrammes of hashish while allegedly transporting drugs in the SHO's private vehicle.

The CPO also appointed SSP Operations Imran Ahmed Malik as the inquiry officer and directed him to conduct a detailed investigation into the alleged involvement of other police officials and personnel.

Police sources said driver constable Muhammad Kashif, posted at Gulberg police station, was arrested on Monday afternoon in Gulberg's C Block.

He was allegedly using the private vehicle of SHO Rana Abdul Ghaffar, which reportedly had a blue beacon installed, to deliver narcotics.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the Narcotics Control Force raided the area and recovered five kilogrammes of hashish from the vehicle.

The constable, along with the vehicle, was taken to the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) office in Madina Town for further investigation.

The raid was reportedly supervised by the in-charge of the ANF Faisalabad Narcotics Control Department, who informed senior police officials about the recovery.

Taking notice of the incident, CPO Tanveer Hussain ordered the dismissal of constable Kashif, SHO Rana Abdul Ghaffar, Sub-Inspector Muhammad Ali, Assistant Sub-Inspector Sohail, station clerk Tarseem and constable Mehboob.

He assigned the inquiry to SSP Operations Imran Ahmed Malik, with SP Iqbal Town Saeed Ahmed and SP Lyallpur Town Abid Zafar also directed to assist in the investigation. They were asked to determine whether any other police officers or personnel were involved.

The CPO said there was no place in the department for personnel bringing it into disrepute and stressed that those found involved in misconduct would face action.

Meanwhile, preliminary findings have reportedly pointed to another alleged case of drug-related irregularities about six weeks ago.

According to police sources, a traffic warden had seized narcotics from a rickshaw near the residence of Nisar Akbar, but the quantity mentioned in the subsequent case was allegedly lower than the amount recovered.

Some of the seized drugs were allegedly misappropriated by police personnel, with a portion reportedly sold to drug dealers.