On duty: Five cops suspended for sleeping

Officials were deployed at a picket on Murree Road.

ISLAMABAD: You snooze, you lose. But you also lose, if you are a policeman on a picket not doing his job, as five members of the Islamabad Police found out on Sunday.

Senior Superintendent Police (Operations) Muhammad Rizwan suspended five cops at a police picket on Murree Road near the Best Western Hotel for “sluggish policing attitude” and “dereliction of duties,” according to the police.

Head Constable Inayat and constables Khadim Hussain, Ehsanullah, Muhammad Tanveer and Nur Nabi are the policemen who were suspended.



The Islamabad Police is desperately trying to pull itself out of a corrupt police culture, according to officials. Attempts to build public trust in the recent past have included appointment of “Human Rights Officers” and the establishment of citizen coordination committees.

Rizwan had also fired some Station House Officers after he took charge of his current post. But the Islamabad Police have struggled at the same time to find honest officers and some key police posts are still vacant despite the recent appointment of new Inspector General of Police Sikandar Hayat Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 14^th, 2013.