LAHORE, Dec 27: In what appeared to be an expected administrative reshuffle in the police ranks, the provincial police chief on Thursday transferred and posted 11 senior police officers including six district police officers.

Three police officers got vacant district slots, two DPOs were posted in other wings and two other DPOs were mutually reshuffled.

According to a notification issued by the Central Police Office, Punjab Special Branch SSP Intelligence Dr Haider Ashraf has been transferred and posted Okara DPO against an existing vacancy; Multan Cantonment Division SP Mansoorul Haq Rana has been transferred and posted Toba Tek Singh DPO vice SSP Muhammad Ahsan Younas who has been posted Lahore Crime Branch SSP; Faisalabd CIA SP Rai Zameerul Haq has been transferred and posted in Chiniot against an existing vacancy; Punjab SSP Investigation Branch Dr Muhammad Abid has been transferred and posted Bhakkar DPO vice Saifullah Khan who has been transferred and posted DG Khan Traffic SP; and Lahore Civil Lines SP Operations Abdul Qadir Qamar has been transferred and posted Rajanpur DPO vice Dr Shahzad Asif Khan who has been made OSD.

Muzaffargarh DPO Zeeshan Asghar and Jhang DPO Akhtar Umer Hayat Lalika have been mutually reshuffled. SSP Shahzad Akbar, who was transferred as DPO from Chiniot on Dec 18 and was awaiting posting, has been posted Punjab Elite Police Force Deputy Director. Rai Zameer’s son, Rai Ejaz, is currently Khanewal DPO.

A source privy to the development told Dawn that SSP Ahsan Younas could not get Sahiwal district slot which has been falling vacant for a month and a half. The source said a couple of PML-N legislators from Sahiwal district were making efforts for the regular posting of acting Sahiwal DPO Malik Iqbal who is actually Sahiwal SP investigation.

He said it was because of these efforts that SSP Younas was not posted in Sahiwal despite his interview by the chief minister the other day. He said Mr Iqbal, who served most of the years in the traffic cadre and didn’t serve field, was given look-after charge of the district before by-elections in Chichawatni.

Mr Iqbal is a batch-mate of SP Muhammad Sharif who is brother of PML-N MPA from Chichawatni, Arshad Jutt. The source said Sahiwal DPO Rana Ayyaz Saleem was still on leave.

He said Mr Younas for Sahiwal, SSPs Dr Haider Ashraf and Dr Muhammad Abid for Okara and Chiniot, SP Mansoorul Haq for TT Singh and SPs Abdul Qadir Qamar and Rai Zameer for other districts were called for interviews at 180-H Model Town on Thursday evening but later the chief minister ordered posting of Abid as Bhakkar DPO and dropped Mr Younas for Sahiwal.

Sources said SP Rana Shahid, who had served as Gujrat DPO in the past, was being considered for Hafizabad DPO slot. The vacancy had been vacant for the last nine days.

A source at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat confided to this reporter that the DPOs of Rajanpur, TT Singh, Jhang and Muzaffargarh had been transferred on the interference of some influential people. He said earlier the DPOs of Sahiwal, Okara and Hafizabad had faced the same fate.

The source said a high-level meeting took place three to four weeks ago, which decided in principle to transfer all those DPOs against whom local politicians and influential figures had lodged complaints. A decision was taken to accommodate the PML-N local circles before the general election, he added.

Sources said Rajanpur DPO Shahzad Asif, who was considered a hardworking and upright officer, was transferred only after nine months on the interference of two PML-N MPAs.

Toba DPO Ahsan Younas, also considered a diligent public servant, was transferred on the interference of the son of a retired Supreme Court judge. Muzaffargarh and Jhang DPOs also faced resistance of local politicians.