LAHORE: The inspector general of Punjab police has reshuffled divisional superintendents of police (SPs) posted in Lahore following the reports of a recent surge in crime in the provincial capital.

Of them, two SPs of operations wing were transferred reportedly over their poor performance in respect of crime prevention in their respective divisions.

Cantonment Division SP (Operations) Safdar Raza Kazmi was transferred and posted as City Division SP (operations) vice Syed Ghazanfar Ali Shah who was posted as Sadar Division SP (Operations). The slot had fallen vacant after the transfer of Bilal Zafar Sheikh who was posted as Lahore security SP.

Similarly, Civil Lines Investigation SP Furqan Bilal was transferred and posted as Cantonment Operations SP.

The four SPs were rotated in the provincial capital on the recommendations of the Lahore Capital City Police Officer B A Nasir.

An official privy to the development said it was unusual that four SPs of Lahore were changed at one go.

Particularly, he said, the transfer of two SPs -- of Cantt and City divisions -- kicked off a debate in the police circles that how a police official who failed in prevention of crime in a division could be successful in another.

He said the case of Mr Kazmi was interesting as he was the only ranker who served for so long in various positions in Lahore, creating an impression that he was “indispensable” for the capital city police. He has served in the provincial capital as Civil Lines SHO, DSP and then as SP (Operations).

Some months back, Mr Kazmi was transferred and posted as Cantonment Division SP, the police officer said, adding that his performance was questioned recently when land grabbers became active in his jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer also complained to the high-ups regarding the sudden surge in the crime related to illegal occupation of properties in his division.

The murder of two women in separate incidents over property disputes during the last few days finally led to Mr Kazmi’s transfer from Cantt to City division, he said.

Similarly, he said, the transfer of a Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officer Syed Ghazanfar from City to Sadar division also raised many eyebrows as it was the worst among all six divisions of the provincial capital with regard to crime rate – 22,000 annually. He said that posting of a low-performing officer in a high crime division was hard to defend.

He said presently more than seven slots of SPs (other than the operations and investigation wings) were lying vacant in the provincial capital. If an officer failed to deliver on a field posting in the provincial capital, he could be given a desk assignment, he suggested.

Given the recent crime surge in the city, a high performer should be given such challenging jobs to save the lives and properties of citizens, the official said.

“The policy of considering an officer indispensable for a district or any other slot was not only damaging for his/her career, but also for the public”, he said.

He said posting of some inexperienced SPs in the operations wing in Lahore was also one of the factors in the recent crime surge.

The IG in a meeting held a couple of days back at Central Police Office gave a week to the Lahore police to bring improvement in the crime prevention and detection, he added.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2019