LAHORE: The provincial police chief transferred on Friday 10 assistant superintendents of police (ASPs), including three women officers, and posted them additional superintendents of police (ASPs) across the province after their promotion by the federal government.

The Lahore police got the first-ever woman SP against a field posting. Most of the newly-promoted officers belonging to 36th Common of the Civil Service of Pakistan have been posted against vacant posts.

According to a handout, Lahore North Cantonment circle ASP Ammara Athar was transferred and posted Lahore City SP Investigation; Rahim Yar Khan Sadiqabad circle ASP Zeeshan Shafique Siddiqi was transferred and posted Gujranwala SP Civil Lines division; Gujranwala Wazirabad circle ASP Fazl-e-Hamid was transferred and posted Gujranwala Saddar division SP; Gujranwala Cantonment circle ASP Muhammad Attique Tahir was transferred and posted Multan SP Headquarters; Lahore Gulberg circle ASP Zahid Nawaz was transferred ad posted Lahore Saddar SP Investigation; Lahore Garden Town circle ASP Nida Umer Chattha was transferred and posted Lahore additional SP Traffic vice SP Mehmoodul Hassan Gilani who was directed to report to the Central Police Office; Lahore Samanabad circle ASP Shaista was transferred and posted Gujranwala SP Headquarters; while Lahore VVIP Security V ASP Agha Ramzan Ali was transferred and posted Lahore VVIP Security SP.

The inspector general also transferred Lahore Iqbal Town SP Syed Tauseef Haider and directed him to report to the Central Police Office and posted Lahore VVIP Security ASP Dr Farrukh Raza in his place.

Sources claimed that Mr Haider was removed, what appeared to be, unceremoniously. A source close to the recent transfers told Dawn that Mr Raza, already looking after the affairs of Lahore VVIP Security SP in violation of service rules and Police Order of 2002, got his second field posting owing to blessings of some ‘influential’ police officers including a district police officer and an SSP rank officer serving in the Lahore police.

Mr Farrukh, who was then ASP, was removed from the post of Lahore Civil Lines SP (Operations) just after three months when the media highlighted indiscipline and his out-of-merit posting as the ASP did not fulfill the tenure criteria to become the additional SP at that time, the source added.

According to police record, both Mr Farrukh and Mr Ramzan were posted additional SPs on a pay and scale (OPS) basis in Lahore police in January 2013 when they did not even meet basic criteria for two-year field service. They were also pinned badges by high ups in, what sources believed, violation of the Establishment Division criteria.