LAHORE: The deployment of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police commandos for the security of former premier Imran Khan in Lahore has been taken as “disgrace” by Punjab police high-ups who command a force that is considered as the “most professional and highly-trained” provincial police in the country.

The impression was re-enforced when some senior officers of Punjab police were reportedly disallowed to cross the inner security cordon at the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s Zaman Park residence by the KP commandos here the other day. The KP government had dispatched 50 well-equipped, highly-trained Elite Force commandos to take over the security of the injured head of the party ruling the province.

Sources say the KP police personnel deployed in and around the residence of the former premier, have strict orders to “independently decide and act” in case of any emergency situation to secure the life of Mr Khan.

A senior official says the Punjab government’s home department had sent a formal requisition to its KP counterpart, seeking services of the special Elite Force personnel for the security of the PTI chairman in the province. However, he says, the Punjab government did not seek any recommendations from its provincial or Lahore police high-ups before sending the request to KP, as required under the laid down Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Senior officers barred from crossing security cordon

He says Punjab’s senior police command is unhappy over the government’s decision to seek security from KP police for Imran Khan in Lahore, taking it as an insult to the largest and “highly professional” provincial police force in the country.

The Punjab police high-ups have also raised a pertinent question that who will be responsible for any further lapse in Imran Khan’s security as the Lahore police are not allowed to lead the assignment, he adds.

The official says the Punjab police department also has dedicated Elite police commandos, who are especially trained for the security of high-profile personalities and the VVIP movement.

He says the decision to “outsource” Mr Khan’s security to KP shows the Punjab government’s distrust of its own police force, apprehending that it could further demoralise the already ‘politicised police’ of the province in the prevailing circumstances.

The official says the Punjab government is bearing all the expenses of the KP police commandos, including their accommodation and food etc, during the specified tenure of their deployment in Zaman Park.

He says the commandos belong to KP police’s highly-trained companies -- Rapid Response Force (RRF) and the Special Combat Unit (SCU). The SCU commandos, he says, are famous for their quick response and are trained on the pattern of army’s Special Services Group (SSG).

“In KP the commandos of this particular unit (SCU) seldom serve in police stations, against static duties or in similar formations”, the police official says, adding that SCU personnel are engaged for high-risk searches, raids, rescue operations or other such assignments.

He says the former KP inspector general of police (IGP) late Nasir Khan Durrani had raised the RRF and SCU units within the Elite Police for conducting major operations against the anti-state elements in the hilly areas, equipped with word-class gadgets, including night vision devices, besides sub-machine guns (SMGs), light machine guns (LMGs) and 2.7mm special guns.To a question, he says, the Lahore police have also made a heavy deployment comprising nearly 500 personnel, including 60 highly-trained Punjab elite police commandos, at Mr Khan’s residence. Moreover, elite police’s four special vehicles have also been stationed outside the residence of the PTI chairman, he says, adding that the patrolling police formations are in addition to these security measures.

An official source says the security management of Imran Khan has hired a private firm to install bullet-proof glasses to cover all the windows of his Lahore residence. The new security features have been proposed keeping in view the serious threat to the life of the PTI chairman, he adds.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2022