LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Wednesday interviewed three senior police officers to appoint one of them the next capital city police officer of Lahore after it was decided to change the entire police command of the provincial capital for its “failure” to handel the march of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) on Islamabad.

The officers who appeared for the interview included Punjab Additional IG (Establishment) Ali Aamir Malik, Additional IG (Investigation) Fiaz Ahmad Dev and Additional IG (Operations) Shahzad Sultan. Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan was also present during the interviews.

Sources say that two more senior police officers -- Additional IG (Counter Terrorism Department) Wasim Sial and former Director of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Usman Anwar -- have also been shortlisted for the slot lately.

However, an official privy to the development told Dawn the chances of Fiaz Dev were “bright” for his appointment as Lahore CCPO.

He said the Lahore police’s top brass was under fierce criticism since the recent violent rally of the TLP that left Lahore amid violent clashes with the law enforcers, leaving two policemen dead and over 80 others injured.

The role of the top police officials on that fateful day was thoroughly analysed in many high-level meetings presided over by the IGP.

The meetings were called after Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Punjab chief minister expressed their anguish over “mishandling” of the TLP rally in the city and dealing with the situation “unprofessionally”.

The IGP had also grilled the officers for not fulfilling their core responsibilities when it transpired during inquiries that almost all the divisional SPs of Lahore were reluctant to face the TLP activists, fearing legal action in case of any casualty, as happened in the aftermath of the 2014 Model Town episode.

The government later decided to change the entire chain of command of the provincial capital police as a ‘punishment’ following the Central Police Office (CPO) reports in which the IGP had clearly held them responsible for the fiasco.

Meanwhile, the official said, the panel comprising the three senior police officers was recommended to the chief minister for the interview by the IGP.

Of them, Ali Aamir Malik, belonging to the 18th common training programme (CTP), was senior to the two other candidates. He happened to be a batch-mate of the IGP Rao Sardar, which marred his prospects for the CCPO slot, the official said.

Similarly, he said, Shahzad Sultan of 21st Common could be deemed too junior to be appointed as police chief of the provincial capital.

This, he said, makes Fiaz Dev the most probable choice for the important post. However, the official said, Mr Sultan was still in the race and the Punjab government might take the final decision in this regard in the days to come.

About the later entry of two more candidates in the race, he said, Mr Sial was not in “the good book” of the IGP, while Mr Anwar was marked for his alleged closeness to the former ruling and present opposition party the PML-N as he had been given key postings during its tenure in the government.

The official added that the names of several officers in the DIG rank were being discussed for the posts of new operations and investigation heads of Lahore police.

Similarly, he said, there were also chances that the Lahore’s SSP operations and divisional SPs would also be replaced by their new bosses.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2021