LAHORE: Inspector General of Punjab Police Arif Nawaz has transferred two regional police officers over ‘performance issues’ and replaced them with relatively experienced officers who had already served as RPOs.

The IG also transferred four other BS-20 officers, assigning them different posts, according to the notifications issues in this respect on Wednesday.

The decision to transfer the police heads of two important regions -- Sheikhupura and Rawalpindi -- was being seen as an important development, an official told Dawn.

He said Rawalpindi RPO Ahmad Ishaque Jehangir was transferred and posted as Punjab Elite Force deputy inspector general (DIG) against a vacant slot, while Sheikhupura RPO Abdul Qadir Qayyum was transferred and posted as Research and Development DIG at Central Police Office vice Mohammad Faisal Rana who was transferred and posted as Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO).

The official said that after assuming his charge as Punjab police chief, Mr Nawaz had indicated that he was unhappy over the performance of the entire command of the Rawalpindi region, particularly for poor crime control and handling of law and order situation in the city bordering the federal capital Islamabad.

He said Faisal Rana replaced Abbas Ahsan as Rawalpindi CPO after a footage appeared on social media regarding controversial postings of station house officers (SHOs) in the city.

The official further said Mr Ahsan’s lack of experience was another factor in his transfer as he had hardly done any field assignment prior to his posting as Rawalpindi CPO. He was posted as CPO during caretaker setup when the then Punjab IG Kaleem Imam transferred him from Islamabad to Punjab to give him the assignment in Rawalpindi.

Sihala DIG Ehsan Tufail has been posted as new Rawalpindi RPO. He had earlier served as RPO of Faisalabad, a region with high crime rate.

Similarly, Punjab VVIP Security Branch DIG Sohail Habib Tajik has been posted as as RPO of Sheikhupura which is rated as a tough region for having high crime rate. Tajik has also served as RPO of Bahawalpur and Sheikhupura.

The official said initially Faisal Rana was considered for Sheikhupura RPO slot but at the eleventh hour the IG appointed him as Rawalpindi CPO.

The IG also transferred Police Welfare DIG Gohar Mushtaq Bhutta and posted him against upgraded post of Police Training College Multan commandant.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2019