FAISALABAD, Oct 22: Implementation of the new police system has practically started, as the Punjab government has abolished eight of the posts of the supervisory police officers in the district.

A notification to the effect was issued to the authorities concerned on Saturday night.

As many as 16 SPOs were appointed in as many police stations in the city district. Each police station was being headed by one SPO. But now an SPO will look after two police stations, as eight of the officials will have to be posted somewhere else.

According to the notification, DSP Mehr Khuda Yar has been made the SPO of Saddar and Thekriwala police stations, DSP Malik Khalid Husain for People’s Colony and Sargodha Road police stations, DSP Mehr Shoaib (Nishatabad and Chak Jhumra), DSP Muhammad Saleem Warraich (Jhang Bazaar and Rail Bazaar), DSP Amin Watto (Batala Colony and D-Type Colony), ASP Humayun Sindhu (Gulberg and Ghulam Muhammadabad) and DSP Malik Abdul Latif has been appointed SPO of the Factory Area and Dijkot police station.

Sources said the SPOs transferred after the abolition of seats included DSP Haji Altaf, Saeed Ahmad Tatla, Rashid Chokhia, Raja Hafiz, Yousaf Ali, Ahmad Nawaz and Shehryar Khan.

ASPs and DSPs were posted in June this year as SPOs in 106 urban police stations of Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan and Gujranwala. The SPOs were posted to ensure better public dealing and improve the police performance by providing necessary guidance to the SHOs.

After the enforcement of the new police policy, tussle over power sharing began between the SPOs having the ranks of ASP/DSP and the SHOs who had been posted at all police stations in the city.

A senior police officer said the SPOs had not been given additional resources/facilities before their postings. Since most of them were not given offices, they had no option but to occupy offices of the SHOs which led to a rift between them. Nor were the SPOs given clear-cut guidelines about their jurisdiction and powers.

In the Gulberg police station, they said, the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee had to vacate its office for SPO Humayun Sindhu. Many such instances were reported in some others parts of the city.

Sources said some of the SPOs and SHOs had been writing to their seniors against each other and levelling charges of corruption, abuse of powers against each other. Most of the SHOs had been deprived of their offices and other facilities by their SPOs.

An SPO told this correspondent on the condition of anonymity: “How can an SHO conduct investigation freely when an SP and a SPO have offices in the same police station. The new system will be effective if the SPOs and SPs are given separate offices and those, too, at places other than police stations.”