August 29, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 26, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 28: Driven by political considerations, the Sindh government is set to give out-of-turn promotions to a fresh lot of police officers, it has been learnt.

Sources said candidates recruited as deputy superintendents of police during the second term of the Benazir Bhutto government and who had political clout would mainly benefit from this measure.

Official records show that from Sept, 1995 to November 2007 as many as 52 out-of-turn promotions were effected in the Sindh police, an unmatched figure compared to such promotions in the three other provinces. During the short tenure of former PPO of Sindh Dr Shoaib Suddle, a half-hearted attempt was made to review the cases of out-of-turn promotions.

A well-place source in the police department told Dawn that a DSP had already been promoted as SP despite reservations expressed by Provincial Police Officer Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak.

DSP Jam Zafar Dharejo, who is a brother of Jam Saifullah Dharejo, provincial minister for irrigation and power, has been promoted as SP.

The citation prepared for his promotion says that he was wounded in the Oct 18 incident. “If the yardstick for promotion is to be made a fatality or an injury while performing duty during the PPP chairperson’s homecoming on Oct 18, then it’s a gross injustice to those policemen who lost their lives or were wounded while performing their duties elsewhere,” a senior police officer said.

Now what is “beyond the call of duty” is also debatable. “Does suffering an injury during duty amount to an act of gallantry?” asked a senior police officer. “In the Punjab police there is no concept of out-of-turn promotions. In very exceptional cases an ASI or a sub-inspector gets promotion if he has really done something extraordinary,” the officer added.

Some of the other officers enjoying political clout and soon to be promoted are DSP Ghulam Nabi Keerio, posted as the SP-Investigation, Hyderabad. “The incumbent enjoys political clout of the Keerios of Nawabshah,” sources said. DSP Qayyum Pataffi, posted as the SP-Investigation, Shikarpur, is the son of Sardar Ahmed Ali Khan Pattafi, a member of the Sindh assembly. Another to benefit from his connections in the government is DSP Mohammad Ali Wassan. Though he is not among the DSPs appointed directly by the former PPP government, DSP Rao Anwar is also among the officers being considered for promotion.

“It seems that now it’s the turn of the PPP government to cash in on the situation and reward its favourites. If former chief minister Arbab Rahim could do it, why can’t the present chief minister do it?” remarked a police officer.

A few weeks before the last interim set-up was in place, a record number of four promotions were notified by the former CM, Arbab Ghulam Rahim, in October alone.

PSP officers

A group of PSP officers have resolved that they will surrender their services to the Sindh government if the two officers of the Sindh police who joined the department on deputation are promoted to the rank of DIG in BS-20, it has been learnt.

Sources said a summary for the promotion of Mohammed Malik and Dost Ali Baloch was with the Sindh chief minister for his approval and a notification to this effect would be issued very shortly.

The PPO Sindh who is reportedly against these promotions has formed a committee to examine the issue whereas the chief secretary of Sindh is reportedly pressing for the promotions, a senior police officer claimed.

Interestingly, Mr Malik’s mother has written a letter to the Sindh chief minister requesting promotion of her son to BS-20 without undergoing the prerequisite “Senior Management Course” at NIPA, citing his medical conditions.

The letter reads “…fortunately Mr Malik fulfills all prerequisite for promotion to BS-20 except that he has not yet undergone the senior management course at NIPA”.

The letter says that Mr Malik has been a patient of “cervical spondylosis with sensory and motor loss in right upper limb” since January 2004.

“He may kindly be promoted to BS-20 subject to the condition that he will qualify senior management course after his recovery,” the letter adds.