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LAHORE, Oct 24: Punjab IGP Ahmad Nasim on Wednesday suspended from service two station house officers and ordered inquiries against two other police officers after listening to complaints at an open court.
He also issued directives to the all the field police officers concerned on telephone to resolve the public complaints within three days after people turned up in droves at the central police office.
Most of the complaints were against the investigation wing which, many said, had made them a rolling stone and victim of humiliation instead of redressing their grievances. At the almost nine-hour meeting, the provincial police chief lent ear to 150 or so applicants and assured them that the police were doing their level best to prevent crime and protect the lives and property of the citizens. The ongoing series of open courts was the part of same objective, he added.
He claimed that the heinous crime rate had witnessed a decline up to 25 per cent in the first nine months of 2007 compared to the corresponding period of last year. The police-public contact, he said, would continue in the shape of open courts and the applications submitted by the complainants would not be dealt with as a routine matter.
He impressed upon the people the need to cooperate with the police in fighting crime in society.
According to the IGP, some 17 police officials were martyred while discharging their duties during the last nine months.
The IGP issued suspension order of Kot Radha Kishan SHO Malik Tariq after he allegedly refused to register a dacoity case on the complaint of Hasnain Sheraz Saleemi, a resident of Kasur. Similarly, Naushera Virkan SHO Muhammad Noor was suspended on the charge of abuse of authority on the complaint of Sufi Muhammad Zaman.
He ordered an inquiry against Nankana Sahib police station in-charge (inspector) Abdul Rasheed and sub-inspector Rana Ishaq on the complaints of Nawazsih Ali and Tariq Mahmood, besides transferring them to Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan as a punishment.
A COMPLAINANT’S ORDEAL: Sufi Muhammad Zaman’s case turned out to be the most moving one as he sobbed out injustice meted out to him at the hands of the law enforcers.
He said he got registered a case against his opponent with the Naushera Virkan police station, but the investigation police declared the accused innocent by taking gratification from him. Not only this, the police later implicated him (complainant) in a case and sent him to jail.
Zaman said as he was the only son of his parents and the breadwinner for the family, his father took the incident to heart and died. On his application, he said, he was released on parole to attend his father’s funeral prayers.
However, sub-inspector Noor Muhammad and some other policemen took him to an unknown place after his rivals once again greased the palms of the police to prevent his participation in the funeral. “All my entreaties fell on deaf ears and the men in uniform rather threatened me with dire consequences”.
The police humiliated him and again threw him in the lock-up where they kept him for 48 hours till the termination of parole and then again jailed him, claimed the Sufi while wiping off his tears.
MEDIA TALK: The IGP told newsmen that the Punjab police had been put on high alert after the intelligence agencies reported that some elements had entered the province to carry out suicide attacks. He, however, refused to give the exact number of the suicide bombers claimed to have made it to the province, saying the police officials of all the regions and cities had been given special assignments to thwart any attempt by such criminals.
Special personnel had been deputed for sending him (the IGP) reports on the situation on daily basis, the IGP added.
He disclosed that he had received information that terrorists might target various installations in the province, especially in Lahore.
