ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police have penalised at least 21 station house officers out of a total of 25 after they failed to implement an “unreasonable” order issued by their high-ups directing officials to stay at police stations during off-duty hours and mark their attendance via biometric machines.

The SHOs, whose promotions have been withheld for one year, argued that the order was difficult to comply with amid hyperinflation as rather than achieving something tangible, it only increased the financial burden on sub-ordinates staffers – a situation not realised by the bigwigs.

They were referring to directives issued last month which ordered the SHOs and the staff deployed at police stations to stay on the premises of their respective police stations during off-duty hours as well, sleep on the premises and return to the station from duty points to mark attendance.

DIG Operations withholds promotion of 21 officials for one year

The SHOs were barred from leaving their respective limits without prior permission from the DIG Operations. The SHOs were asked to get a biometric machine from the Police Lines Headquarters as soon as possible and install it at respective police stations for 24-hour monitoring.

Promotions withheld

After the heads of police stations failed to implement the new directives, the DIG Operations issued an order, announcing punishments awarded to these officers for “inefficiency/negligence”. It said the SHOs failed to ensure the biometric attendance of their subordinates despite “clear directions”.

They deliberately avoided marking the attendance and remained out of the police station without any valid reason or purpose, the order said, adding that this depicted that the SHOs did not take the directions of seniors seriously. “The situation depicts their sheer negligence, lack of interest, and unprofessional attitude towards official duties, which amounts to gross misconduct and inefficiency on their part,” it added. The DIG said under the Punjab Police (E&D) Rules 1975, each SHO was awarded a punishment of “withholding of promotion for a year” with immediate effect.

The station house officers penalised by their operations chief included SHOs of the Secretariat, Aabpara, Kohsar, Women, Bhara Kahu, Banigala, Karachi Company, Tarnol, Shalimar, Margalla, Golra, Ramna, I-Area, Sabzi Mandi, Shams Colony, Nilore, Shahzad Town, Koral, Sihala, Lohi Bher, and Khanna police stations.

Order ignores lower staff

In response to the DIG’s order, officials told Dawn that there were 25 police stations across the capital, adding that there were no proper lodgings available at Lohi Bher, Nilore, Khanna, Shams Colony, and Banigala.

Also, Banigala, Lohi Bher and Khanna police stations have no proper structure, while the Golra police station was operational in an old structure; Shams Colony police station was situated in a rented building, and Nilore police station was also operational from a factory area.

According to the officials, the police said that the PSP officers were introducing new laws without focusing on the problems faced by the lower staff. “There are no proper facilities for the lower staff, including pick and drop, and the PSP officer [still] wanted the staff to come to their respective stations from their residence, mark their attendance through biometric, go to their duty points, perform over 12 hours of duty, return to their relevant station, mark their attendance again, and then go back to their homes,” they said, adding that this amounted to an increased financial burden on policemen.

All three points—residence, police stations, and duty point—are located far away from each other, the officials said, adding that the so-called competent and well-educated PSP officers were making laws that were “hard to obey”.

According to officials, succeeding police officers were creating more complications for the lower staff as compared to their predecessors. They said that the majority of the policemen were doing their job properly and remained present at their duty points, adding that some policemen skipped their duty but there were other ways to keep a check on them. Despite repeated attempts, the police’s PRO was not available for comments.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023