In the offing: Investigation Wing set to become autonomous

Candidates conducive to investigation being vetted by Special Branch

LAHORE:

Punjab Police Inspector General Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera is on the verge of making the investigation wing autonomous in an effort to reorient its focus towards cracking cases of crime against property, person and the state.

An official cognisant of the development told The Express Tribune that the IGP was on the cusp of finalising the proposal and a notification in this regard would be issued next week. The official said district officials had selected the best officials to be posted to the revamped wing. He said officials from the Special Branch at the central police office had been screening the chosen officials.



An official from the Special Branch said their profiles were being vetted to ascertain their mindsets and any connections with banned outfits. He said the branch was also conducting aptitude tests of the officials.

The official said the branch was also trying to establish whether the shortlisted candidates had been accused of corruption.

“Sagacity, good memory and observation skills are the yardsticks being used to gauge their suitability to positions in the investigation wing,” he said.

Another senior police official told The Express Tribune that these officials would discharge duties at the wing for a period of two to three years. He said that this would go a long way in improving performance standards of the police.



The official said IGP Sukhera would finalise the exact tenure of their postings soon. He said this would improve time-management and performance standards at the wing.

The official said the initiative would enable the officials to focus solely on investigations. He said earlier officials from the department used to be deployed for other duties.

He said the force was replete with instances of officials in the midst of making pivotal headway in solving cases being transferred.

The official said this had caused long delays in investigations.

The official said the decision to make the wing autonomous would remedy this. “Only the best officials will be posted to the revamped wing,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2015.