LAHORE: Inspector General of Punjab Police Inam Ghani on Monday took immediate action against officials of various ranks who have a criminal record.

Chairing an important meeting, the IGP directed to remove from their post within 24 hours of this order all station house officers (SHOs) with a criminal record. He also directed the senior field staff to remove in the next phase all those SHOs who had been awarded three or more major departmental punishments during service, an official privy to the development told Dawn.

The IGP also decided that all police officials from the rank of constable to BS-21 will be liable to be suspended from service if a criminal case was registered against them.

Under the police rules, the head of a region and district was authorised to suspend officials from constable to the rank of inspector, while an IGP issued orders in case of a deputy superintendent of police and superintendent of police. For the suspension of officers of senior ranks, the case was referred to the establishment division.

IGP orders suspension of officials if criminal cases are filed against them

During the meeting, Mr Ghani also decided that an official from the rank of constable and above would not be posted till he/she was cleared in an inquiry or by a court.

The official said the IGP took the decision about the SHOs when the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) of the police identified many of them serving in Punjab despite facing criminal cases and being notorious as well as their tainted service profile.

He directed the field officers to remove 34 SHOs of bad repute. Though many senior officers opposed the initiative, but the IGP directed them to implement his decisions in letter and spirit, the official claimed.

He said if an SHO is facing even a single criminal case he would not be allowed to serve in Punjab, according to the IGP’s orders to be implemented within 24 hours of their issuance.

Meanwhile, according to a handout, Mr Ghani during the meeting said the role of SHOs was crucial in implementing police reforms, changing police station culture and improving their operations. He said new guidelines regarding posting across Punjab of SHOs with an excellent service record had been issued for implementation forthwith.

He further decided that an officer who had not worked in the investigation wing or a police station for two years as an investigation officer should not be posted as an SHO.

If any city police officer (CPO) or district police officer (DPO) did so in violation of these guidelines, the regional police officer (RPO) concerned will be authorised to remove him/her. While the CPO or DPO concerned will be held accountable, the IGP warned.

During the meeting, Additional Inspector General (Establishment) Azhar Hameed Khokhar and all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs of the province presented their recommendations and suggestions regarding the appointment of SHOs.

The IGP directed the deputy inspector general (IT) to add new monitoring features to the central database of HRMS to make the deployment of SHOs more transparent, so that they could be utilised in times of need.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2021