BAHAWALNAGAR: Fixing responsibility for the Aug 19 security lapse which led to an attack on an Ashura procession in the city, police under the pressure of a provincial minister found a scapegoat to spare two officials who were actually answerable.

The grenade attack had left two persons dead.

An official announcement on Aug 20 from the office of Bahawalpur Regional Police Officer Muhammad Zubair Dareshak, said SHO Akbar Gujjar, ASI Muhammad Ashraf and security in-charge Rao Inam had been suspended from service.

But the official notification issued later did not carry the name of SHO Gujjar. Rather, Organised Crime Branch DSP Muhammad Younas was on the list of the suspended.

Official sources said senior police officers had held the Saddar SDPO Amjad Kamboh responsible for the security lapse but his name was dropped on political grounds.

‘Minister recommended names of guilty officials’

It was the third sectarian strike in his jurisdiction during the last couple of months, including the Aug 6 attack on the Central Imambargah.

When Dawn contacted the spokesperson for the RPO to know why B-Division SHO Akbar Gujjar was spared, he said the names recommended by provincial minister Shaukat Laleka were included in the list of those suspended. He claimed the SHO had been sent to the police lines.

SHO Gujjar said there was no truth in reports that he was suspended by the RPO. He said he was still performing his duty as station house officer.

DSP Muhammad Younas told Dawn that he had received the suspension letter from the department but he said he was not aware of his fault. He said he was on a symbolic duty on Aug 19 and had no authority to secure procession route.

“The Saddar SDPO was directly responsible for the security of the Muharram procession and he should be questioned about the lapse,” he said.

Sources said Muharram routes were checked through sniffer dogs every year but this time it was not done.

SDPO Amjad Kamboh confirmed the sniffer dogs were not used.

Punjab Zakat and Ushr Minister Shaukat Ali Laleka’s spokesperson Umar Zaman Laleka told Dawn that the announcement of suspension of B Division SHO Akbar Gujjar was not made by the minister.

He said that after the Ashura blast, the names of SDPO Amjad Kamboh and SHO Akbar Gujjar were considered for suspension due to the security lapse but dropped in the end. He said it was done since the route in-charge was crime branch DSP Muhammad Younas.

Bahawalnagar DPO Zaffar Buzdar was not available for a comment. His spokesperson confirmed that despite the announcement of suspension, the B-Division SHO was not suspended.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2021