LAHORE, Nov 16: Delay in release of Rs10.4 million funds for infrastructure development of two posts of the newly-created Security Division led to a clash between the SSP (administration), Lahore, and two SPs of the division at the Capital City Police Office on Friday last, Dawn learnt through sources.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Administration) Farooq Mazhar, who is authorised to issue funds for the required targets/projects, disagreed on disbursement of allocation for the security division officials that led to a heated debate among those attending the meeting. He instead reportedly sent a complaint letter to the CCPO which was forwarded to the Punjab IGP for an appropriate action.

Sources close to development told this reporter that the meeting was highly important as it was meant to review the performance of the security division. At the discussion attended by SSP (admin) Farooq Mazhar, DIG (Security Division) Abid Qadri, SSP (Operations) Chaudhry Shafiq Ahmed, SP (Headquarters) Mirza Farhan Baig, SP (Coordination) Imran Arshad, SP (Security-1) Ali Javed Malik and SP (Security-II) Imran Yaqoob, the two SPs of the security division raised the point that no funds were issued for establishment of their offices despite the finance department’s notification of allocation of Rs10.4 million for the purpose.

They said they had been discharging their duties for the last two months, but still could not get proper offices, staff and necessary facilities, requesting the SSP (admin) to expedite the process. The SSP, however, snubbed them with the comment that there was no such notification and that he was not free to develop new offices for them, the sources said.

They said the government had transferred Rs10.4 million as an eight-month budget of the two SPs while post of SP (security-III) was yet to be notified.

“You are lying about the notification and how can I listen to you when you have been called for ‘undisclosed agenda’, the SSP questioned the SPs who then turned to their DIG for intervening and later brought the notification through a fax to bring it into the notice of the SSP (admin).

The SSP was in no mood to accommodate his subordinates, the sources said, as he criticised both the SPs who eventually strongly reacted to his attitude, saying: “We have conveyed the request in an official manner and should not be treated like this”.

What made his intentions to delay the project clear was the fact that he just a few days back had gone to the AIG (logistics) with the same notification and got an NOC for the purchase of necessary apparatus, the sources said while blaming the SSP for creating fuss about the issue.

Both sides lodged their complaints to the CCPO who asked them to amicably resolve the matter without anyone getting the scent of it. But, the SSP, the same day wrote a letter to the police chief with a complaint that the two SPs had committed misconduct with him.

The CCPO, instead of resolving the matter by himself and by going against his early assurance, forwarded the letter to IGP Shaukat Javed who, according to the sources, had during his visit to the CCPO office the same day resented dissatisfactory performance of the security division.

“We are giving security apparatus worth Rs250 million to you, but there is no visible improvement in the performance of the security division,” a police source quoted the IGP as having said to the CCPO and DIG Abid Qadri.

The notifications of the security division formation and allocation for funds for it were issued in August 2008. And despite tall claims by the provincial government about the functioning of the security division, the two SPs have yet to be provided any staff and have very limited duties. The SP (security-I) has been assigned the duty at the 90-Sharah-i-Quaid Azam and Seven Club Road while the other SP covers the PML-N Model Town camp office and Shahbaz Sharif’s residence at DHA’s S-block.

SSP (Admin) Farooq Mazhar, when contacted on his cell phone, refused to confirm or deny the incident. “We generally do not disclose secrets of the meetings,” he told this reporter.

When asked why the police were not issuing the funds earmarked for the purpose, the SSP said he did not know about it.

CCPO Pervez Rathore too neither confirmed the development nor denied it, saying “this is our departmental matter”.