LAHORE: The officers of the Police Service of Pakistan ‘disallowed’ their subordinates, including two DPOs, from participating in the farewell event of Multan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Riffat Mukhtar Raja, further deepening the divide between the provincial police officials and ‘elite’ PSPs.

Apparently, the move reported in south Punjab brought about embarrassment for the officials as they felt it an insult saying that the authorities must take notice to end the ‘discrimination’.

An official privy to the information told Dawn that the farewell ceremony was held in Multan for Riffat Mukhtar the other day.

He was transferred from the post of Multan RPO and posted as additional IG police (logistics and procurement) at the Central Police Office on Nov 17.

S.Punjab police chief dispels impression of ‘PSP-only’ gathering

Faisalabad RPO Dr Moeen Masood was transferred and posted as new Multan RPO, the same day.

He said the event was organised routinely as a traditional practice in the police organisation for the outgoing official where all the relevant officers were invited to a get-together as a goodwill gesture.

However, the official said, the ‘unusual farewell ceremony’ sent a ‘strange message’ when only the PSP officers were invited, disallowing those from the ranks to participate in the event.

He said the Multan region comprised four districts, including Vehari, Lodhran and Khanewal.

Currently, he said, DPOs of Vehari and Khanewal Zafar Buzdar and Naeem Aziz Sindhu were from the ranks while DPO Lodhran Kashif Aslam hailed from the PSP.

Of them, the DPO Lodhran was invited to the [farewell] event while Mr Buzdar and Mr Sindhu were not ‘allowed’ to attend it, the official said.

Similarly, he said, two other police officers serving in the Multan region - regional investigation branch SSP Rao Naeem Shahid and assistant inspector general Rana Ashraf - were also not invited to the event.

On the other hand, he said, all the PSPs serving the same region attended the ceremony.

They included south Punjab Additional IG Ehsan Sadiq, newly-posted Multan RPO Dr Moeen Masood, Multan CPO Khurram Shahzad, Multan police training school commandant Gohar Mushtaq Bhutta, Multan DIG admin Mohammad Saleem, SSP Imran Shaukat etc.

Interestingly, Motorway police DIG Shahid Javed also attended the gathering, he said adding that the ‘ranker’ police officers initially tried to avoid the matter.

However, as soon as a group photo of the participating PSPs was released and shared on social media and in the ranks, it stirred up a strong criticism, causing embarrassment for them in the community. The group photo was also displayed on the wall of the RPO building.

The storm of debate on the social media about the alleged victimisation brought the matter to the limelight.

Additional IG police south Punjab Ehsan Sadiq rejected the impression drawn by some quarters/officers that the event was only PSP-specified saying that “a police chief treats both the PSPs and the rankers equal.”

He said it was quite a coincidence that only the PSPs were participating in the event as he had issued instructions to invite the officers serving in Multan city alone.

“I respect the officers of integrity either they are from PSPs or ranks,” the south Punjab police chief said.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2022