‘Who’s stopping them’: PM’s own security official gives the slip in UK

Deputed with the security squad, he disappeared without a clue, say officials.

RAWALPINDI:

“Who’s stopping them” was PM Gilani’s reply to a question about an alarming percentage of the people wanting to flee the country. One of his own security official took the words quite literally.

Deputed with the security staff on the PM’s visit to England, Constable Ali Shan “disappeared without a clue”. Some police officials suspect that Shan made his move for a better future in Europe.

City Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Hameed Khokhar, on Thursday, said that an inquiry against the Punjab Police Elite Force’s constable was underway. He said if found guilty of illegally slipping in the UK or remaining absent from duty without intimation, Shan could be dismissed from police service.

The police official did not return with the PM’s security squad from the UK on May 13, in the hope of securing a better future, said a police official requesting anonymity. The PM had travelled to the UK on May 8.

The constable’s family has been questioned if they were in contact with Shan, the official said. The family told the police they had not been in touch with Shan since he had left for the UK with the PM’s security squad.

Shan was married some six months ago and he had been trying to go to a European country in search of a better future, he added, quoting his family based in Gujar Khan.

When contacted, PM’s spokesperson Akram Shaheedi said Shan had informed the PM’s chief security officer that he wanted to spend a few days with relatives in the UK. The constable has a valid visa for three weeks and is likely to return to the country before it expires, Shaheedi added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2012.