GUJRAT, Feb 24: The government has failed to appoint a new district police officer in Gujrat even more than three weeks after the post went vacant.

Punjab IGP Saadatullah Khan had made former Gujrat DPO Raja Munawar Husain an officer on special duty (OSD) on Jan 31 last with a direction to him to immediately report to the police headquarters in Lahore.

The step was taken following denial of bail to him and other police officials by a double bench of the Lahore High Court hearing the Sialkot jail case. Since then SP (Headquarters) Javed Iqbal Shami is holding the additional charge of the post.

Sources said several police officials were in the run for the post and they had been exploiting their relations for the purpose. They said a member of the Chaudhry family had requested the chief minister to appoint their close relative, SSP Zafar Abbas Lak, in Gujrat.

However, the chief minister had turned down the request with the argument that his appointment would open up the Pandora's Box and invite scathing criticism by the opposition, they said.

A former Gujrat SSP, Nisar Ahmad Saroya, who was also made an OSD on Sept 21, 2002 by the governor, also had been struggling to attain the coveted post but, according to the sources, the government top brass and the Chaudhrys were not interested in him due to his previous (bad) record. Mr Saroya was removed from the post of the Sialkot DPO last year and was again made an OSD by the government.

The next candidate in the run was SP Chaudhry Shafqat Bhadar, who is a resident of the district and a close relative of former MPA Chaudhry Liaquat Bhadar and Jorra family of Gujrat, said the sources. They added that the higher-ups would not be in a position to accommodate Mr Bhadar due to his local resident ship.

The sources revealed that Raja Munawar Husain, whose bail had been confirmed by a superior court, also was striving to again get himself appointed to the post. However, they said, the vacancy had not hampered the smooth functioning of the police because acting DPO Javed Iqbal Shami was performing his duties well for his experience in the field.