LAHORE, March 22 In an expected move, 12 sub-divisional police officers (SDPOs) and 36 station house officers (SHOs) of the Lahore police have been reshuffled.

According to a notification issued by the capital city police officer on Sunday, Misri Shah SDPO Raza Safdar Kazmi has been transferred and posted as Garden Town SDPO and Garden Town SDPO Nauman Ashar posted as Misri Shah SDPO.

Ichhra SDPO Muhammad Ashraf Rana has been transferred and posted as Burki SDPO vice Arif Rasheed who has been posted as Islampura SDPO. Islampura SDPO Naseemul Hai has been ordered to report to Capital City Police Lahore (CCPL) Headquarters.

Samanabad SDPO Shamsul Haq has been transferred and posted as Ichhra SDPO, Naulakha SDPO Imtiaz Serwer transferred and posted as Old Anarkali SDPO vice Ejaz Rasheed who has been ordered to report to CCPL Headquarters.

Shahdara SDPO Zahid Abbas has been transferred and posted as Tibbi City SDPO vice Ehsan Elahi Khokhar who has been directed to report to the CCPL Headquarters.

Model Town SDPO Nasir Mehmood Bajwa has been transferred and posted as Serwer Road SDPO vice ASP Muhammad Shahzad Asif Khan who has been posted as Model Town SDPO.

Of 36 SHOs, 12 have been ordered to report to the Police Lines and the remaining have either been reshuffled or deputed from the lines and divisional headquarters.

Qilla Gujjar Singh SHO Noman Ahmed, Liaquatabad SHO Ibrar Husain, Shadman SHO SI Hammad Hassan and Factory Area SHO SI Nisar Ahmed, who have either been reshuffled or sent to the police lines, had been deputed a few days back by either CCPO or outgoing DIG (operations) Amjad Javed Saleemi.

Sources privy to the transfers told Dawn that Old Anarkali SDPO Ejaz Rasheed, who was on duty in connection with the long march, had been made OSD for his failure to stop the marchers. Similarly Model Town SDPO Nasir Mehmood Bajwa was transferred for his failure to stop Nawaz Sharif's convoy.

SDPO Arif Rasheed has been transferred from Burki to Islampura circle because of his affiliation with PML-N MNA Khwaja Saad Rafique.

Sources said lists of a majority of SHOs were finalised by the Governor's House after the names provided by PPP legislators and local leaders.

Punjab IG Khwaja Khalid Farooq, after reportedly getting approval of the names, further directed the CCPO to appoint the SHOs as per the finalised list. Sources said CCPO Muhammad Habibur Rehman and newly-appointed DIG (operations) Shahid Iqbal held an important meeting at the CCPO office on Sunday where the DIG signed the list of SHOs.

All newly-appointed SHOs were also summoned for a meeting at the CCPO office, they added.

Sources said a majority of the postings had been made while ignoring merit and accommodating the PPP stalwarts.

They further said those SHOs, who had sympathies with the PML-N or appointed by the previous police top brass, were also targeted.

They said all those SHOs had also been removed who could not manage law and order during the long march on March 15.

They include Model Town SHO SI Tahir Ikram, Faisal Town SHO Zaheerud Din, Kot Lakhpat SHO Muhammad Ashraf and Nishtar Colony SHO Muhammad Azam. — MUHAMMAD FAISAL ALI