LAHORE: Another superintendent of police (SP) has been transferred from the provincial capital in the light of the explanation letter issued by Lahore SSP Investigation Abdul Ghaffar Qaisrani.

Model Town SP Investigation Bilal Qayyum was transferred and closed to the Central Police Office.

Mr Bilal was the second police officer after Cantonment Division SP Investigation Dr Anoosh Masood Chaudhry who faced an embarrassment due to the premature transfer from Lahore. Both the officers were the choice of Capital City Police Officer Umar Sheikh for posting in the city and were also surrendered from Punjab as ‘punishment’.

The abrupt removal of these officers from the city and then repatriation to Islamabad has raised a key question as to why they were awarded ‘punishment’. There was a strong impression that Inspector General of Police Inam Ghani is gradually getting back powers to make reshuffle of choice in Lahore.

The police circles believe that the IGP remained accommodative in the starting period of the CCPO, giving a visible mandate to Mr Sheikh for transfers and postings in the city. He not only made postings on the recommendations of the CCPO but also prematurely removed many police officers from Lahore on Mr Sheikh’s request.

The then DIG investigation Lahore Shahzada Sultan, SSP investigation Zeeshan Asghar, CIA SP Asim Iftikhar, Civil Lines Division SP investigation Asadur Rehman and the then Cantt operations SP Furqan Bilal were among those who were prematurely transferred on the recommendations of the CCPO.

A police official privy to the information said the CCPO’s differences with former IGP Shoaib Dastagir and 50 other senior police officers of the province in September had prompted Mr Ghani to give margin to Umar Sheikh in order to avoid confrontation with him. Three months after appointment of the CCPO, he said, the IGP seemed to have changed his policy to get the powers of appointments in senior grades in the provincial capital back to dispel an impression that “Lahore is no more in his jurisdiction’.

It is evident from a recent disturbing incident in which the SSP Investigation issued strong-worded letters of advice to two SPs of Lahore -- Dr Anoosh Masood and Bilal Qayyum -- raising question about their “professional competence’. The contents of the official letters irritated and shocked the officers and one of them declared it an attack on integrity and reacted in harsh words in a written reply.

The official correspondence between two sides reached the power corridors including the IGP office who showed his utter displeasure on the matter. The IGP transferred Dr Anoosh on Dec 12 and closed her to the CPO for ‘challenging’ the SSP investigation in her written reply.

In another related incident on Dec 9, the CCPO admonished the SSP investigation for refusing to arrest workers and activists of opposition parties in the wake of the public meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Dec 13. The CCPO ordered Mr Qaisrani to leave the venue saying he was no more required in Lahore.

The official said that was the turning point when the IGP took some strong steps and first time resisted the move of the CCPO. He not only directed Mr Qaisrani to continue to work as SSP investigation but also transferred Bilal Qayyum from Lahore whose appointment was made on the strong recommendations of the CCPO.

“The services of the PSP officers are hereby surrendered to the Establishment Division, Islamabad, with immediate effect and they are also relieved of their duties in government of Punjab,” reads the notification issued by the Punjab government on Saturday. The notification was for SPs Anoosh Masood Chaudhry and Bilal Qayyum.

CCPO Umar Sheikh told Dawn that being the commander of Punjab police, Inam Ghani reserved right under law to make reshuffle in the provincial capital.

On the other hand, Bilal Qayyum raised some points and objections to his premature transfer saying he was surrendered from Punjab just on the basis of the SSP’s letter of advice. He lamented that neither any inquiry was launched in the wake of the explanation letter issued by Mr Qaisrani nor was any allegation proved against him.

“It shocked me when I found out that the SSP investigation has sent a copy of the explanation letter to the IGP before getting the matter pointed out in the letter,” he told Dawn.

Mr Qayyum said the SSP investigation bypassed the chain of command of the Lahore police and recommended to the CPO to place the information (mentioned in the letter of advice) to his dossier that was an attempt to spoil his career. Under the laid down procedure, he said, the SSP investigation was supposed to wait for an inquiry to prove allegations mentioned in the explanation letter he had issued to him.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2020