LAHORE: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s move to run the newly-established south Punjab police secretariat ‘independently’ seems to fly in the face of the ground realities as the police officers of the region have been directed to ‘submit reports’ of even petty crime matters directly to the Central Police Office Lahore, weakening the position of the South Punjab Police Officer (SPPO).

“The decision is all the more problematic as BS-21 police officer retired Capt Zafar Iqbal who is heading the three regions housing 11 districts in south Punjab is senior to even Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani. And this very issue may be one of the reasons the IGP is avoiding to make him answerable for the crime complaints,” an officer told Dawn. He said it’s a unique format of appointment as the senior police officer (the SPPO) was serving under the command of a junior officer who is heading the Punjab police force.

He said under the new administrative arrangement, the police officers of the said region were supposed to report to the SPPO on all the matters including law and order, crime, public complaints against police and transfer postings.

With headquarters in Multan, the PTI government had established the south Punjab secretariat last year after a series of meetings at the prime ministerial and provincial levels to solve the issues of the people at their doorstep. The government had granted the SPPO powers to make lower-level transfers and postings in his area of jurisdiction and hold police accountability at his level.

IGP’s recent directions seem to be demoralising for secretariat head

The senior police officer said the SPPO was supposed to seek reports from the regional and district police officers and brief the IGP on the situation. However, he said, the persistent interference of the Central Police Office (CPO) in the region even on petty and other crime incidence was a source of embarrassment for the SPPO.

The officer said the issue had kicked off a debate about the ‘autonomy’ of the south Punjab secretariat as the police officers of the region were confused while submitting reports to two parallel authorities at the same time.

Repeating the previous practice, he said, IGP Ghani a couple of days ago reportedly bypassed the SPPO by directing the regional police officers (RPOs) of Multan and DG Khan to directly submit him reports on the crime incidents occurring in their respective jurisdictions.

In Multan, a citizen had died after string of a stray kite slit open his throat while in Rajanpur, two persons were killed and seven others injured during an armed clash. While talking notice of both incidents, the IGP directed the RPOs to submit him reports. Earlier, he had taken notice of the alleged sexual assault on a university student in Layyah district and sought report from the DG Khan RPO.

The officer said the purpose of creating separate and independent police secretariat in south Punjab was to ease burden on the IGP to enable him to discharge his core responsibilities/functions to reform the largest police force. The functions include effective policy-making, improvement in supervision, appropriate budget and provision of other required resources to the force. However, his interference in the south Punjab police matters was beyond understanding for many, he said.

“If the IGP feels it necessary to keep an eye on the crime situation in the region too, he should contact the south Punjab police chief,” the officer said, adding that the practice to bypass him and ask the officers of his region to report him directly was demoralising for the SPPO.”

As for the possible reason for IGP not engaging or contacting the SPPO on such issues, the officer said Mr Zafar was senior to Mr Ghani. Mr Zafar was among the officers vying for the IGP slot when the seat fell vacant after the transfer of Shoaib Dastagir a few months ago.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2021