LAHORE, July 23: The inspector-general of Punjab police on Wednesday made changes in the provincial set up as a first phase of a major reshuffle.

Mr Zafar Abbas Lak, Senior Superintendent of Police, Faisalabad, has been transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to the Services and General Administration Deportment, Government of the Punjab, for further orders.

Lahore traffic police chief Lt-Col Zaheerul Hasan was relieved from his duties and ordered to report to the ministry of defence while 17 DSPs were transferred.

The transfers are being considered the first administrative order of the IGP as provincial police chief under Police Order, 2002.

Lt-Col Zaheer was relieved from his duties in pursuance of GHQ’s letter, says a Punjab government notification. Multan traffic police SP Malik Abdul Aziz has replaced him.

IGP Masood Shah had announced in a press briefing on Tuesday that there would be major changes in the Punjab police set up soon.

“The chief minister has given me all the administrative powers under the new police law,” the IGP told Dawn after the briefing.

These powers have been a bone of contention between the police and the bureaucracy since the Police Order, 2002, was introduced. Although the bureaucracy had agreed to give the IGP financial powers, it did not want to give him administrative powers.

According to sources in the Punjab government, Mr Shah had attempted to use the administrative powers by transferring two SPs some months ago. However, the Punjab government did not notify the transfers and they continued to work in their offices. SPs Dr Usman Anwar and Bilal Sadiq Kamyana were the two officers. The former is continuing in his same position since then and the latter was first transferred as security SP and, later to his present assignment.

Of the 17 DSPs transferred, 11 have been asked to report to the Punjab Constabulary (PC). Posting at PC after serving in field is considered a punishment in the police department. Rest of the six DSPs, except two, were selected from different police wings and posted in Lahore police investigation wing.

The 11 officers sent to the PC included Islampura DSP Haq Nawaz Baloch, Model Town DSP Zafar Iqbal Gorsi, Old Anarkali DSP Rana Shahid, Lahore Mobile-1 DSP Sadaqat Ali, investigation DSPs Aslam Sahat, Akhtar Ali Khan, Muhammad Iftikhar and Altaf Ahmad, organized crime DSPs Rana Shahid Ahmad and Riaz Ahmad Maikan and Tipu Company DSP Maqsood Ahmad.

Four of the six DSPs — Khalid Javed Dar (CID), Anees Lodhi (Dunyapur DSP), Lodhran, Rai Zamirul Haq (Punjab crimes branch) and Younus Butt (Okara police investigation) — were transferred to the Lahore investigation wing. Sheikhupura city DSP Faisal Gulzar was transferred and posted as Islampura, Lahore, DSP and Special Branch DSP Rana Ishrat Ali as Ichhra, Lahore, DSP.