CHAKWAL: Tension at workplace apparently drove an ASI of Chakwal Police to take his life by shooting himself with his official Kalashnikov, sending a wave of shock in the Chakwal police.

According to a brief suicide note, the ASI said: “I do not have any enmity but tension at workplace is forcing me to take such an extreme step. I do not know how to perform my duty. Please don’t disturb any colleague and my family members. I could not sleep for the last one month. I have not received my salary for the last three months.”

The ASI, a resident of Turkwal village in Gujar Khan tehsil of Rawalpindi district, was transferred to Chakwal a few months ago. After getting transferred in Chakwal he was appointed as in-charge of Police Check Post in Sarkalan, a remote village in tehsil Kallar Kahar. Sarkalan is notorious for providing a safe-haven to proclaimed offenders.

“He did not want to serve at Sarkalan Check Post for two reasons. Firstly, he spent most of his time in Special Branch and did not have any experience of field work and secondly he was reluctant to serve as in-charge of that post which is located in a dangerous area,” a police official told Dawn.

The official added that due to his transfer from Rawalpindi to Chakwal he could not get his salary for the last three months as paper works for his transfer from one district to another fell victim to red tape. A close friend of the ASI told Dawn that the he had borrowed ten thousand rupees from a friend a few days ago and sent some money to his home.

“He was also a heart patient,” the official added.

The deceased is survived by four children and a wife.

Talking to Dawn, District Police Officer Sikandar Hayat expressed his deep sorrow over the demise of the ASI and said he had launched a fund to support his family. “His children are like my own children,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2017