LAHORE: In what appears to be a police shuffle after the posting of new provincial police chief and Model Town tragedy, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif interviewed 14 senior officers at his Model Town Camp Office on Sunday to fill some key vacant and other field posts across the province.
The notifications of posting of candidates from the Services & General Administration Department, Punjab, and the Central Police Office, Punjab, are expected within a few days, Dawn learnt.
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Sources told Dawn that officers having ranks from the deputy inspector general of police to the superintendent of police received interview calls late on Saturday and were directed to reach the Model Town Camp Office of the chief minister at 10am on Sunday.
DIGs Zulfiqar Hameed (acting Lahore police chief), retired Capt Ahsaan Taufail, Rehmatullah Khan Niazi (Dera Ghazi Khan regional police officer) and Sahibzada Shahzad Sultan (DIG Security Division Lahore), SSPs Dr Haider Ashraf (Faisalabad city police officer), Babar Sarfraz Alpa, retired Capt Syed Ahmad Mobeen, Waqas Nazir (SSP Operations Lahore and acting DIG Operations, Tayyab Hafeez Cheema, Sohail Habib Tajik and SPs Syed Muntazar Mehdi, Abdul Qadir Qamar, Sardar Hashmat Kamal and Inaumur Rehman appeared in the interview held by the chief minister who was flanked by the principal secretary to the chief minister and the acting inspector general of police.
Sources said IGP Mushtaq Ahmad Sokhera, who proceeded on a week-long ex-Pakistan leave two days ago, got a green signal from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to select officers for new assignments.
They said some of those district police officers were being replaced who were found involved in corrupt practices. Sources said the provincial police chief got information about all the field officers from the Punjab Special Branch to assess the repute and professionalism for fresh shuffle in police ranks apparently to improve efficiency.
Sources further said the changes at the district level were being made on the intervention of IG Sokhera, who was posted IGP Punjab on June 16, while two positions in Lahore police were being filled to cover the accidental gap occurred owing to Model Town clash between the police and the Pakistan Awami Tehrik activists.
Four DIGs were called to the interview for the selection of the capital city police officer, Lahore. The seat has been vacant after the transfer of DIG Chaudhry Shafique Ahmad in connection with the Model Town episode.
Similarly, SSPs Ahmad Mobeen and Haider Ashraf were called for the possible selection for the vacant post of DIG (Operations) Lahore (it also fell vacant after the removal of SSP Rana Abdul Jabbar after Model Town shooting).
In case DIG Zulfiqar Hameed is posted CCPO Lahore, both Mr Mobeen and Mr Ashraf are likely to be posted his subordinates. And SSPs Waqas Nazir, Babar Sarfraz Alpa, Tayyab Hafeez Cheema and Sohail Habib Tajik were called for the selection of city police officers of Faisalabad and Gujranwala.
SPs Muntazar Mehdi, Hashmat Kamal, Abdul Qadir Qamar and Inamur Rehman were interviewed for the slots of Bahawalnagar, Chiniot and Mandi Bahauddin DPOs.
Sources said the DPOs of the aforementioned districts were being removed after complaints about corruption and alleged involvement in organised crimes.
A senior officer from the Central Police Office, who refused to be named for being associated with the selection process, confirmed the interviews and said the posting of officers selected after interview would be done on the arrival of the IGP.
Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2014