LAHORE: Vacant key posts and their additional charge to already overburdened officers are affecting the police performance at all levels.

Besides, affecting the department itself, the situation is also creating inconvenience for the people who do not find officers at important posts or find others trying to handle multiple tasks at more than one position at the same time.

The department is facing a severe shortage of officers against several key posts across the province owing to non-availability of suitable persons and unnecessary delay in promotions and litigation between PSPs and around 250 police officers from three provinces.

The Shahbaz government, on the other hand, is also toeing ‘self-styled’ policy of appointing junior officers against senior posts, including field posts, either due to shortage of suitable officers or to accommodate its ‘blue-eyed.’

Officials say the delayed appointments are not only hurting official businesses but they also provide the officials of departments concerned with an opportunity to skip duty.

The worst affected are the complainants, visitors and department employees who hardly find police officers to address their grievances.

The Punjab police has shortage of the officers against sanctioned strength in its nine formations round the clock.

Information, gleaned by Dawn, shows the government has recently posted DIG Telecommunication Punjab Dr Arif Mushtaq (a DIG rank officer) as Additional IG Welfare & Finance on his own pay and scale and Additional IG Investigation Muhammad Amlish as Additional IG Special Branch Punjab. Mr Mushtaq earlier held the additional charge of DIG Elite Police for few months.

The post of Additional IG Welfare & Finance has recently been filled after a lapse of six months or so and earlier Additional IG Punjab Sarmad Saeed Khan was holding its additional charge.

Six important posts of Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer, Additional IG Investigation Punjab, Additional IG Traffic Punjab, DIG Elite Police Force Punjab, DIG Telecommunication Punjab and AIG Training are lying vacant.

Currently, Additional IG Sheikh Naseemuz Zaman and DIGs Muhammad Tahir Rai and Zaeem Iqbal Sheikh are awaiting postings while two DIGs, Azhar Hameed Khokhar and Azeem Khan Laghari, who were attending staff college course for promotion, are available for further postings. Another DIG available with the provincial police is Captain (retired) Osama Mumtaz Raja who is on ex-Pakistan leave.

The provincial government has requisitioned the federal government for two officers to the rank of DIGs.

Mr Zaman, who was earlier Rawalpindi RPO, was removed from the post on the intervention of a senior federal minister, belonging to Rawalpindi, who had nursed a grudge against the officer for not visiting him in personal capacity.

After the removal of Mr Zaman, the Rawalpindi sectarian episode during Muharram took place in the presence of a junior officer, DIG Zaeem Iqbal Sheikh, who was posted against a vacant post.

Now Rawalpindi CPO Sardar Akhtar Omer Hayat Lalika is holding the look-after charge of Rawalpindi for the last two months or so; Commandant Punjab Constabulary Captain (retired) Muhammad Zubair is looking after the charge of Additional IG Punjab Traffic Police; Sheikhupura RPO Malik Abu Bakar Khuda Baksh has been assigned additional duties of Elite Police DIG.

Similarly, several field posts, including SSPs Regional Investigation Branch Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and DG Khan; SPs Investigation of Nankana, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan, Vehari, Khanewal, Lodhran, Chiniot, Mianwali, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Layyah; and Cantonment SP Investigation and City Investigation in Lahore, are also vacant.

According to police record, one field police officer in some of abovementioned districts is having the charge of one to four posts additionally. In some districts, the district police officers are having charge of investigation also.

The IGP has recently appointed few newly-promoted SPs as SPs Investigation Sheikhupura, Bhakkar and Sargodha.

On the other hand, eights DIGs are working on their own pay and scale against as many posts of Additional IGs.

A senior police officer, associated with the administrative matters of Punjab police, says that though police try to fulfill responsibilities by assigning additional duties to available officers but the practice is affecting working requirements and complainants.

He is of the view that the department is currently facing shortage of officers because of delayed promotions of PSP officers by the Central Selection Board as well Punjab police officers by the Central Police Office and OSD officers facing departmental and judicial inquiries.

According to a field police officer, the performance of the Punjab Police is already under-question under different policing heads, including missing targets of arresting proclaimed offenders, people wanted under Fourth Schedule and ratio of pending cases.

He says the IGP, in monthly crime meetings, expresses dissatisfaction over police performance and non-availability of field officers is one of the major factors in the deterioration of police performance.