LAHORE: The ‘politically motivated’ transfer and postings of ‘low-performing’ police officials continue as two BS-18 officials were made head of the Cantt Division Operations in Lahore within 24 hours reportedly on the ‘pressure’ of the Chief Minister Secretariat.

Even the Supreme Court’s Nov 24 notice (on a petition) to the federal and provincial governments to submit record of transfers and postings in `blatant violation’ of the Police Order, 2002, has failed to deter the Punjab government from stopping this illegal practice.

The Cantt appointments follow a recent reshuffle of SPs who were repeatedly rotated in Lahore despite the fact that the crime rate has risen alarmingly in the city. Instead of providing relief to the citizens, the officials are using their connections to retain positions of choice in Punjab, particularly in Lahore.

An official said the appointments of the two new SPs has again kicked off a debate on the role of the Punjab police chief who has the autonomy to make postings and transfers under the Police Order 2002.

Two Cantt Division SPs changed twice in 24 hours; SC notice of Police Order violation goes unheeded

He said the police department transferred BS-18 officer Irtaza Komail and posted him as Lahore Cantt Operations SP on Dec 11.

The official said his appointment order was issued accordingly when the Central Police Office (CPO) got a call from the CM secretariat for his immediate posting. As the official was preparing to take charge of the post, the CPO got another call from the CM secretariat which ordered cancellation of the earlier appointment and also left a message to wait for the next ‘order’.

Some minutes later, the IG office received a call from the CM secretariat for the transfer of Saddar Division Investigation SP Raza Tanvir and his posting as the Cantt division operations SP.

The CPO also followed the order and issued a new notification, posting Mr Tanvir as new SP operations in Cantt -- his third consecutive posting in the provincial capital. Earlier, he served as the Civil Lines SP for a few months and was transferred due to ‘performance’ issues and posted as Saddar division investigation SP.

Political interference in the appointment of divisional SPs gives an impression that the Punjab police chief has nothing to do with the transfer/postings at any level.

Citing another example [of political interference], he said the Punjab government issued directions for the transfer of Rajanpur DPO Ahmad Mohyuddin a few days back at a time when he was leading the Kacha area operation against criminal gangs.

Consequently, a notification was issued on Dec 9 posting Faisal Gulzar as the new DPO of Rajanpur.

A few days later (on Dec 12), the CPO issued order to cancel the appointment of Mr Gulzar and issued another notification of retaining Mr Mohyuddin as the Rajanpur DPO.

The official said the CPO cancelled appointments of three officers during the last few days shortly after issuing notifications of their new postings following ‘calls’ from the CM secretariat.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2022