LAHORE: Capital City Police Officer Umar Sheikh on Sunday had his personal secretary Abdul Sattar, a BS-16 official, briefly arrested.

The CCPO got upset with his personal secretary for minor lapse in official work, called him to his office where he allegedly abused him and had him ‘arrested’.

An official said Mr Sheikh ordered the Civil Lines station house officer to take Abdul Sattar to the police station and send him behind the bars after lodging a case against him for ‘disobeying’ him (the CCPO). He said as the CCPO left his office, his action sparked panic and strong resentment in the lower staff.

The protesting employees threatened to take up the matter on the social media against CCPO’s ‘violent and inhuman’ behaviour against junior officials, he said. The employees also warned that they would not resume office till the release of their colleague Abdul Sattar and an apology by the CCPO.

About the incident, he said, Mr Sheikh had called a meeting of his select officials including the personal secretary at 2am on Sunday and ended it after two hours. The employees returned their homes to take rest, he said, adding that the CCPO again called them in the morning and sought report of the work assigned to them.

“His personal secretary excused for the slight delay in completing the work on the pretext of having sleepless night. The reply irritated the CCPO who vent his anger and ordered his arrest,” the official said. On being informed about the expected agitation of the lower staff of his office, Mr Sheikh directed the SHO to release his personal secretary.

Mr Sheikh has been in the headlines since assuming his charge as the CCPO. He seems to be indiscreet in his remarks and has adopted an aggressive policy which has sent a wave of panic in the force.

Recently, he ordered arrest of some police employees while bypassing the departmental procedures. Some of them had submitted written complaints to the IGP to take notice of the illegal actions of the Lahore police chief against the junior employees.

The Lahore CCPO declined to comment on the issue.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2020