Traffic arrangements for the VVIPs on the move inevitably put the ordinary citizens ill at ease. Usually, in their anger, stranded commuters blame the ‘police culture’ for their wasted time and suffering.

That sounds unfair to the police. After all they are just acting on ‘orders from above’ when they block a ‘VIP route’ to all other traffic.

Last month the chief secretary of Punjab suspended a police officer for not acting on such an order, while the officer protests it never reached him.

Whether a case of missed communication or a blame game, a traffic mess for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Murree on February 7 messed up the career of the local senior traffic officer, SP Haseeb Hussain Shah.

That day Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was entertaining Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz and his entourage to lunch in the hill resort.

After the Saudi guests’ departure for Islamabad by road, the prime minister was scheduled to travel to his Bagh Shaheedan residence in Murree.

Normally, the job of securing the prime minister’s route should have gone to the Rawalpindi City Traffic Officer (CTO) Syed Ishtiaq Hussain Shah. But since the CTO was busy with Metro bus project, Superintendent of Police (SP) Senior Traffic Officer (STO) Haseeb Hussain Shah was assigned the task.

However the prime minister, instead of heading to his house in Murree, headed for Islamabad.

According to the police officials, only the PM’s chief security officer (CSO), Zeeshan Raza, was aware of the change in programme.

SP Haseeb Shah was informed by the chief security officer (CSO) to the prime minister that the prime minister would go to his Bagh-i-Shaheedan residence while the Saudi dignitary’s convoy would travel to Islamabad.

However instead of going to Bagh-i-Shaheedan, the prime minister’s motorcade set out for Islamabad.

According to protocol, the CSO has to convey the change of programme to the assistant commissioner, the police officials concerned and the senior traffic officer as they have to make necessary security and traffic arrangements.

However, the security officials as well as the traffic police were left panic stricken on learning that the PM’s convoy had taken a wrong route for Islamabad and subsequently gotten stuck in traffic.

The police sources quoted the prime minister as saying that why he was brought there? But nobody from the police and district administration had an answer.

The motorcade was then turned back and put on the right track – Islamabad-Murree Expressway. For this episode, STO Haseeb Shah was held responsible.

According to police sources, CSO Zeeshan Raza claimed that he had informed the district administration and police about the change of PM’s programme through wireless communication system before leaving for Islamabad.

But, the sources said there was neither any communication on the logbook of the wireless control nor in the police station record. Nobody from the police department had heard it on wireless either.

According to the police any conversation on wireless is put on record by the wireless operators on duty at the control room.

Immediately after the incident, the chief secretary Punjab issued orders of suspending Senior Traffic Officer Rawalpindi Syed Haseeb Shah.

The officer was however informed about his suspension a couple of days later.

The STO on the other hand claims that he had neither been conveyed about the change in prime minister’s schedule nor was the VVIP motorcade put on the wrong track by the traffic police as there was proper deployment.

“I was called by the commissioner Rawalpindi in the evening who inquired about the incident. I informed him that I had not been communicated the change in programme by the CSO. The assistant commissioner Murree had also confirmed to me that he had not heard a wireless communication from the CSO,” SP Hasseb Shah said.

When contacted, CSO to Prime Minister Zeeshan Raza said shortly after the prime minister got stuck in traffic in Murree, City Police Officer Umar Akhtar Hayat Laleka held an inquiry.

The CSO said: “According to the standard operating procedure of security, Rawalpindi and Murree police wireless controls were informed before the prime minister’s convoy left for Islamabad.

However, he did add that the information was communicated “a little late”.

He said during the prime minister’s movement, they could not take anything lightly – especially under the prevailing security situation.