RAWALPINDI: Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi’s surprise visit to the New Town police station led to the suspension of the night duty officer on Saturday.

He also directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to increase the number of female immigration officials to facilitate women during his visit to the Islamabad International Airport (IIA).

While at the airport, Mr Afridi inspected the FIA immigration counter as well as the international departures and arrivals counters to observe immigration officials and their behaviour with passengers.

Shehryar Afridi visits IIA, New Town police

He also asked passengers about any problems they had faced while interacting with immigration staff.

He told immigration staff they should behave well with international passengers, whose first interactions are with them, as this reflects the image of the country.

He also directed the FIA to increase the number of female immigration staff to facilitate women.

According to a video that went viral on social media, Mr Afridi also visited New Town police in the early hours of Saturday where he listened to complainants and directed the duty officer to address the complaints of the people at the police station.

He could also be seen asking the duty officer why people were at the station and whether their complaint was being addressed.

The officer replied that their case was not registered with the New Town police and was a cheque dishonour case registered with Vihari police.

The duty officer, Sub-Inspector Khalid Mehmood, also told the minister he had asked them to bring a copy of the FIR so he could speak to the relevant investigation officer about the case details.

Mr Afridi said he visited the police station at 3am to observe the police, and could also be heard saying he was shocked during his visit.

However, he did not reveal any wrongdoings by the police in the video.

He also visited police lockup and reviewed the records of the people held there.

New Town Station House Officer Mirza Javaid, when contacted, said the sub-inspector was suspended for not maintaining his office and there had not been any public complaint against him.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2018