MULTAN, Aug 20: The suspended SHO of the Jatoi police station, Nazeer Ahmad Babber, was dismissed from service on Tuesday.

Inspector Babber was the in charge of the police station when the Meerwala gang-rape incident took place on June 22 last. His subordinate, ASI Iqbal, did know about what had happened in Meerwala from the very first day but the police took action only on June 30 when the victim lodged an FIR.

Soon after the disclosure of the gang-rape, the inspector was suspended from service while inspector Abdul Lateef Chandia was posted as Jatoi police station SHO.

Inspector Babber had also appeared as a prosecution witness in the Meerwala case.

When contacted, a senior police official confirmed his dismissal from service under the charges of poor supervision.

When talked, Dera Ghazi Khan DIG police Asif Nawaz said the main cause of his removal from service was the presence of some 18 illegally-confined people at a quarter of the Jatoi police station when the provincial law minister was there in connection with the Meerwala case. He said some of them were named in heinous crimes like murder and dacoity but there was no record of their arrest. Similarly, he said, two of them were innocent.

Inspector Babber is the first senior police official who has faced punishment in the backdrop of the Meerwala incident. Jatoi SDPO Saeed Awan has also been served a notice under Removal from Services Ordinance, 2002.