LAHORE: The Punjab government has appointed BS-19 police officer Amara Athar as the chief traffic officer (CTO) of Lahore, making her the first woman police officer holding the key traffic control assignment in the provincial capital.

She is also the fourth woman police officer posted in Lahore, showing the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar’s policy of prioritising female officers for the field assignments in a bid to change the decades-old tradition of ‘male dominant’ policing in the province.

Ms Athar replaced retired Capt Mustansar Feroz, who had been holding the the Lahore CTO post for the last one year or so.

An official says there were many male contenders for the top slot of the Lahore traffic police, but the IGP preferred a woman officer, apparently due to the outstanding performance of another female officer, Aysha Butt, who was posted as Gujranwala CTO.

IGP’s experiment of posting female officers in field ‘bears fruit’

He says Ms Butt got two appreciation letters from the provincial police officer for bringing reforms in theGujranwala traffic police in a short span after her posting.

She established the country’s first traffic theme park at Gujranwala, with a long walk track where traffic signs are installed on both sides to create public awareness about traffic rules.

Appreciating the initiative in Gujranwala, the Sindh Police had requested the Punjab Police to share the scheme with it, the official says, adding that the IG also gave a cash award to Ms Butt and her team for rendering outstanding services.

He says the performance of Lahore Investigation SSP Dr Anoosh Masood Chaudhry with regard to the May 9 cases and the way she collected evidences and got the challans submitted, was another reason that encouraged the Punjab police chief to post a woman officer as Lahore CTO.

Being Investigation SSP, Ms Chaudhry has also resolved many high-profile cases, including those of murder and robbery.

Similarly, Lahore Sadar Division SP Sidra Khan, Crime Record Office (CRO) SP Aqeela Naqvi and Gulberg ASP Syeda Sheharbano have also been posted by the IG in the provincial capital.

Recently, he says, Ms Sheharbano has been shortlisted as ‘the most inspiring female police officer’ by the IG, who later nominated her for participation in the World Summit Award-2024, being held in Dubai in March next year.

Ammara Athar has also served as Model Town, Lahore, SP for a considerable period, the official adds.

The services of the outgoing CTO, Mr Feroz, had been placed at the disposal of the Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA), for appointment as chief operating officer (COO) against a seat which had been vacant since long.

He says that besides Feroz, two other officers – Elite Force DIG Sadiq Dogar and DIG Syed Amin Bukhar – had also applied for the PSCA COO post.

However, after being interviewed by a panel headed by Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akthar Zaman, an comprising IG Dr Usman Anwar, the secretary services and the home secretary,Feroz was preferred to his competitors, especially for his performance as Lahore CTO.

Through a notification on Monday, the IGP recommended Feroz for the slot of PSCA COO.

He also transferred chief security officer of the Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Amanullah and posted him as personal staff officer (PSO) to Punjab IGP vice Sahibzada Bilal Umar, who has been transferred and posted as AIG admin at Central Police Office.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2023