LAHORE: To an utter surprise to many PSPs, the Punjab government withdrew the order of repatriation of ‘first woman SSP Investigation Lahore’ Dr Anoosh Masood Chaudhry within 24 hours of surrendering her services to the Establishment Division Islamabad ‘under mysterious circumstances.’

The gold medalist in MBBS from King Edward Medical University (KEMU), Dr Anoosh was surrendered to the ED Islamabad late on Wednesday night on the order of the Punjab government.

An interesting part of the development was that Punjab Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman had addressed all issues relevant to the transfer of Dr Anoosh in ‘just one notification of her repatriation’ rather following the laid-down procedure.

A senior official said according to the procedure the government used to issue a notification of a grade-18 police officer related to his/her transfer from the position he/she was serving and direct him/her to report to the Central Police Office (CPO).

SSP Dr Anoosh transferred and repatriated against laid-down procedure

In case, he said, his/her services were not required further for the province, the government would issue a separate notification/order of the in-question officer, relieving him/her of duties from the province and repatriation as well.

Surprisingly, in this particular transfer case, the Punjab government addressed all the issues in one notification.

“The services of Dr Anoosh Masood Ch, currently awaiting posting in Central Police Office Punjab are hereby repatriated to the Establishment Division Islamabad. She is relieved of her duties in the government of Punjab, forthwith”, reads the notification.

The official further said the notification contained the words ‘currently awaiting posting’ which again confused the police officers who declared it an ‘absolutely unusual happening’ in the transfer/posting practices.

He said the confusion deepened when the chief secretary issued another notification within 24 hours and announced withdrawal of the earlier notification of her repatriation.

“The department’s notification regarding repatriation of Dr Anoosh Masood, currently awaiting posting, in Central Police Office is hereby withdrawn/cancelled ab initio,” reads the second notification issued late on Thursday night.

There were reports that some senior police officers suggested to Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to review her decision of repatriation of Dr Anoosh to Islamabad keeping in view her ‘risky’ job she performed and the services she rendered in the wake of the investigations into May 9 cases.

The official said a ‘strong lobby’ of the PSPs serving in Punjab was not ‘comfortable’ with her since she assumed the charge as SSP and led the investigations into high-profile May 9 cases.

The lobby had made some serious attempts in the past to replace her with the police officer of choice but the Punjab CM had secured her seat following her services.

Dr Anoosh had supervised a majority of the May 9 cases registered under anti-terrorism charges against former prime minister Imran Khan and PTI’s other senior leaders and workers.

She has been facing strong criticism for making arrest of the PTI’s founder in anti-terrorism cases lodged against him at various police stations of Lahore.

The official source said Lahore police had lodged a total 63 cases in the wake of the May 9 mayhem.

Of them, 14 FIRs were registered under anti-terrorism charges against Imran Khan, senior leaders and workers of the PTI while 49 others were lodged under other charges.

He said the sudden transfer and repatriation of Dr Anoosh late on Wednesday at a time when she was supervising the May 9 cases investigations raised many an eyebrows in police circles.

As SSP Investigation Lahore, she remained in the limelight when she made her appearance on national and social media and claimed to have substantial evidence against the PTI founder and senior party leaders, the official said.

He said she had also faced strong criticism when she appeared in the higher courts to defend the state and the findings of the investigations.

Acknowledging her efforts, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had proposed her name for her posting in CM secretariat but the anti-lobby in Punjab police managed to get a male police officer transferred there.

Similarly, IG Dr Usman Anwar and Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana had issued letters of appreciations to acknowledge her services which were assessed based on the Chief Minister’s Governance Initiatives for Police Performance Evaluation through Key Performance Indicators.

The Punjab government has transferred Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Finance Mohammad Naveed and posted him as new SSP Investigation Lahore. He assumed charge of his new post here on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2024