KARACHI, Sept 9: A wave of anger and frustration has hit the rank and file of police force as some of the personnel have been granted promotions out of turn and those showing outstanding performance have not been considered for any reward.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that the police hierarchy has granted out of turn promotions to certain officials on the recommendation of some influential figures within the government. The undue promotions to the nears and dears of these influential figures have been granted as the hierarchy wants to keep such personalities happy with it and take undue favour, according to the sources.

The sources pointed out that the summaries pertaining to the promotions of those who had remained unobliged in this regard previously were pending a signature by the chief executive of the province.

"The summaries of the officers who have solved some high-profile cases of terrorism and who have been braving constant death threats from jihadi or sectarian elements have been sent back to the PPO for his remarks," claimed a senior police official requesting anonymity.

The official gave the example of inspector Aleem Lashari of the CID, Civil Lines, who had been attacked by unknown armed men very recently. "But the officials sitting in the Sindh Secretariat seem to have a very short memory," he remarked, adding that the inspector was fortunate enough to have survived the attempt on his life.

One of the officers recommended for promotion appeared to be the TPO of Gadap, Munir Ahmed Khoro, a former DSP of the Driving Licence Branch. He has been the TPO of Gadap for quite sometime and recommended for promotion to the rank of SP.

His assignment, cited for the favour, is 'special task for curbing the cases of robberies and dacoities'. The summary reads: "The said officer constituted a special team for the arrest of robbers and dacoits. He himself monitored the efforts of the special team in tracing the gangs."

The summary further maintains: "The DIG Operations has further added that the high-level performance displayed by the TPO Gadap makes him worthy of promotion to the rank of SP as a special case because he did not care for his own safety while tracing the above gangs of dacoits."

The sources pointed out that a summary for the promotion of DSP Mohammad Akbar Sanjrani, Town Investigation Officer, Jamshed Town (Zone-1), has also been sent to the competent authorities.

The DSP is a relative of a senior bureaucrat. The summery describes his performance as 'most outstanding' while stating that his working in the painstaking investigation and detection of case in the high profile murder of Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai remained quite excellent.

On the other hand, the investigators and senior officers of the Sindh police approached by Dawn on different occasions in connection with the assassination of Mufti Shamzai talked of slow or no progress.

Highlighting arrest of certain other people during the course of the investigation, the summary concludes: "On account of the acts of gallantry and valour, he is recommended for a promotion to the rank of SP on gallantry."

Summery of another DSP's performance has been put forward for a promotion for his participation in the Sept 11, 2002 encounter which had taken place in a Defence area.

Referring to some delaying tactics on the part of certain officials of the home ministry, a senior police officer claimed that summaries of several competent officers had been dumped by the ministry's personnel.

"We are working on the target given by the President of Pakistan to root out terrorism from the country, and CID has achieved great success in curbing terrorism. However, the officers who had done exemplary work are being deprived of their due promotion by the bureaucracy," complained a CID official.

"Some officers appeared to have become dejected to the extent that they have stopped taking interest in their work," claimed a police officer who requested not to be named.