KARACHI, July 24: In a bid to reorganise the Anti-Car Lifting Cell, 250 policemen were withdrawn from the specialised cell and sent to police headquarters on Tuesday. Well-placed sources said effective measures were being taken to improve the performance of the ACLC, which would be renamed as Anti-Car Lifting Unit (ACLU) after the reforms. If the performance did not improve in this final attempt, a summary would be moved to the home department asking for disbanding of the ACLC, added the sources.

However, City police chief Azhar Farooqui said: “We have withdrawn the officials from the ACLC and now we will contemplate to rationalise the cell. There are many posts that are no longer productive and postings of officials on these posts are meaningless. We will review it and decide how much strength the ACLC needs,” he added.

He said those transferred from the ACLC were the dead wood and now selected officials would be sent to the cell so that they could produce results and the performance of the cell could be improved. He confirmed that the name of the cell would be changed to the ACLU but the charter of duty would remain the same.

ACLC SSP Niaz Khoso, referring to his meeting with the Sindh police chief, said the cell would be made a role model for Karachi police and it would work like the motorway police. He said efficient officials would be deputed in the cell and the available resources would be upgraded.

About the transfers, he said that the provincial police officer had tasked him with purging the cell of the dead wood. He said he had made certain categories of officials -- such as those involved in cases, suspended on any charge, facing departmental inquiries or absent from duty for long without notice -- and the transfers were based on these categories.

He said 250 officials, who came under one of the categories, were sent to police headquarters. Most of the officials transferred had been working in the ACLC since its inception. Many officials, who failed to perform during the past three years, were sent to the police headquarters.

Mr Khoso said he and DIG Investigation Manzoor Mughal were assured by the top hierarchy of police that efficient officials would be deputed in the ACLC.