LAHORE: Raging controversy over the Wazirabad shooting FIR may lead to administrative crisis in the Punjab police after the provincial government proposed to the Centre names of three senior police officers including the one who has already been suspended by the Establishment Division for violating discipline, for the appointment of new provincial police chief.

The panel carries the names of former Inspector General of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Aamir Zulfiqar, former Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Fayyaz Ahmad Dev and ‘present’ Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mahmood Dogar. The first two officers on the panel were recommended to the PML-N government in the Centre second time for the same position of the Punjab police by the PTI-PML-Q coalition.

The three police officers proposed by the Punjab government were said to be on the ‘wrong side’ of the PML-N, ruling in Centre, with bleak chances of any of them being selected for the top police slot.

Some police experts lament that the Punjab government has made these three professional police officers of BS-21 ‘more controversial’ by proposing them for the top police position during the tug-of-war. Declaring it a premature move, they believe that this decision would further drag the officers into politics, tarnishing their professional image.

An official said the fresh development seemed to be an attempt to change the ‘balance of power’ as is evident from the political background. He said both the parties had been in confrontation with each other on many matters, primarily, on the appointment of two key positions of the Punjab police -- provincial police officer and Lahore police chief.

For the last few weeks, he said, both sides had used legal and administrative powers for the transfer/removal of senior police officers appointed by each other. He said the fresh move had left many police officers perplexed.

The official said the panel for the appointment of new IGP was sent at a time when a BS-22 police officer was still serving as provincial police officer. Similarly, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was abroad and the request sent by provincial police chief Faisal Shahkar for his transfer out of the province was yet to be put up with the Prime Minister Secretariat for a final decision, he said.

He said Ghulam Mahmood Dogar – an officer proposed by Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi -- had been placed under suspension by the Establishment Division five days ago for not following his transfer order and frequent reminders to relinquish the charge. He said the notification of his suspension was issued on the approval of the prime minister, being the competent authority, and the Punjab government’s expectation from the Centre to consider Mr Dogar as one of the candidates for the top police slot of the province was beyond understanding. Also, the Lahore High Court had dismissed Mr Dogar’s plea when he challenged the suspension order, declaring that the LHC had no authority to hear this case. Following the LHC’s decision, he said, the legal status of Mr Dogar as CCPO had become questionable but he continued to attend the office and hold official meetings in uniform.

He said Fayyaz Dev was among those few police officers, whom the PML-N had victimised. About Aamir Zulfiqar, he said, the police circles believed that the federal and Punjab governments could agree on his name as he enjoyed good relations with some top PML-N leaders.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2022