LAHORE: The Lahore police have identified over 2,000 criminal cases, with changed investigation officers, lying pending since 2017, unveiling a non-professional approach of the officers who had been heading the investigation wing in the past.

These cases were assigned to the police officials for investigation after first or second change of officers probing into the matters.

Some police experts declared it a ‘criminal negligence’ on part of the officers who had been heading the Lahore police investigation wing in the past, ignoring the huge pendency of the cases falling in this category. It was simply a matter of non-seriousness, they added.

Some of them say the Punjab chief minister should initiate departmental proceedings against the former DIGs and SSPs of investigation, for denying the citizens their right to get justice and get their valuables and properties recovered from criminals.

Many of the cases were lodged against habitual criminals, who either deprived the citizens of their valuables at gunpoint or illegally occupied their lands.

They say such pendency of cases weakens the investigation process that is necessary to prosecute the accused in the court of law.

An official says the complainants usually seek change of investigation officers (IOs) because of dissatisfaction with their findings.

He says a board comprising senior police officers of investigation wing is empowered to change IOs after a formal inquiry to verify the applicants’ concerns. The new IOs who are assigned the cases are bound to complete investigations timely so that court proceedings could be initiated, he adds.

He says that after Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Bilal Siddique Kamyana held a series of meetings on the huge pendency of cases, the investigation process was expedited and some 32,000 general cases were disposed off in a fortnight.

On average, he says, the challans of approximately 1,000 cases registered by Lahore police are submitted to the courts concerned daily, in coordination with the prosecution department.

The submission of such a record number of challans came under discussion at a meeting of the Lahore investigation police officers which was also attended by district public prosecutor Imtiaz Cheema.

The official said that a meeting chaired by the Lahore CCPO further got shocked when the matter of pendency of over 2,000 cases, involving change of IOs, also surfaced.

Mr Kamyana gave a deadline of one week to the SSPs of both investigation and operations wings, besides other officers, to complete the challans of under investigation cases.

He also directed the officers to meet the targets of arresting the proclaimed offenders (POs), failing which, they would be served explanation letters and show-cause notices.

Particularly, he asked the investigation SSP to personally monitor the performance of the sub-divisional police officers (SDPOs) regarding the status of the cases under investigation.

He told the officers to intensify crackdown on the POs in ‘A category’, to help bring down heinous crimes, including murders.

He also asked the SSPs of both wings to start holding open courts for direct hearing of complainants’ grievances and their redressal.

The CCPO ordered that there should be no further delay in the completion of investigation of the cases with nominated suspects lying pending for over a month.

Published in Dawn, February 22nd, 2023