LAHORE: Many officers in the Lahore police are upset about what they say ‘aggressive and unbecoming’ conduct of newly appointed chief Umar Sheikh.

The police force panicked when the CCPO had some officials arrested and put them behind the bars while bypassing departmental procedure. He also allegedly used ‘improper words’ against senior officers in several formal and informal meetings.

Fed up with the behaviour of the Lahore CCPO, two police officials — training assistant sub inspector (T-ASI) and a head constable — complained to IGP Inam Ghani about the CCPO’s behaviour.

Meanwhile, the transfer of Lahore admin SSP Liaquat Malik late on Wednesday added fuel to fire. His transfer shocked the senior officers of the provincial capital police when they came to know that the CCPO had used improper words in his letter sent to the IGP.

The CCPO recommended to the Punjab police chief to place departmental action in the CR dossier of Mr Liaquat to disturb his promotion matter. This act further irritated the senior police officers in Lahore. He sent a copy to the Punjab chief minister too for further consideration, an action/punishment the other police officers declared excessive and uncalled for.

Mr Sheikh in the strong- worded letter mentioned Liaquat Malik as ‘irresponsible and non-professional officer’. He claimed that the SSP admin lacked ability to prepare an official presentation of a crime incident. The CCPO stated that he had asked Mr Liaquat to prepare a brief of incident of motorway gang-rape case that he (Umar Sheikh) was to present before the committee of the Senate.

The officer allegedly gave wrong details of the incident that could be embarrassing for the Punjab as well as the Lahore police, he said.

“Such presentation of distorted facts to the members of parliament standing committee on law and justice would have caused extreme embarrassment to the worthy IGP Punjab and the CCPO Lahore, called to brief the committee,” reads the official letter.

There were some reports that both sides exchanged arguments when the Lahore CCPO used ‘improper words’ against Mr Liaquat and the junior staff at a meeting a couple of days back. Following this correspondence, the admin SSP Lahore refused to work under the command of Mr Sheikh.

Consequently, the IGP transferred Mr Liaquat and posted him as assistant inspector general (AIG) discipline at the Central Police Office (CPO) against an existing vacancy late on Wednesday.

An official privy to the information said that the series of such incidents in which the CCPO adopted an aggressive policy prompted some other senior officers of the Lahore police to demand their transfer from the provincial capital to any other suitable place. He said two SSPs and an SP also approached the CPO while refusing to work under the command of the Lahore police chief.An application of police inspector and former SHO of Gujjarpura Syed Ahmad Raza Jafri is pending for approval for registration of FIR against the Lahore CCPO for the last one week or so.

CCPO Umar Sheikh said all his efforts were for the restoration of public confidence in the police force. He said his prime target are the forces resisting change.

“The police reforms are not possible unless we all overcome the forces of the status quo,” the CCPO said.

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2020