Senior police officers decide to stand by disgruntled Punjab IGP
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The latest posting of Lahore CCPO (Capital City Police Officer) and the resultant frustration shown by Punjab IGP Capt (retd) Shoaib Dastgir is seemingly not going to die soon, as the officers have decided to express solidarity with their chief, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Tuesday.
This grouping within the ranks of Punjab Police comes as Dastgir hasn’t yet reached his office even on Tuesday. It is expected that all the RPOs (regional police officers) and CPOs (city police officers) will arrive at the Central Police Office in Lahore later in the day and formulate their future course of action.
Earlier on Monday, 24NewsHD reported that Dastgir had stopped coming to his office after the posting of Umer Sheikh as the Lahore CCPO in yet another twist amid the uncertainty prevailing among the ranks of bureaucracy since the PTI came into power after the 2018 general elections.
The disgruntled Punjab Police chief also raised the issue directly with the Prime Minister’s House as he is unhappy with the posting of Umer Sheikh.
It is said that Dastgir had resisted the transfer of Zulfiqar Hameed who, according to him, is a competent officer.
In this connection, the provincial police chief also met Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office on Monday without any prior schedule and expressed his reservations over the issue. However, Buzdar directed Dastgir to continue discharging his duties.
As a natural consequence, the senior officers serving at the Central Police Office are confused who said that the IGP had made a decision about his future. Everyone would know the decision in the coming days, they added.
Punjab experienced the latest round of changes in bureaucracy and police as Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Lahore last week, strengthening the impression that the province is being controlled directly by the Centre.
That’s why PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah had alleged that the new Lahore CCPO had been posted with a specific mission of targeting the main opposition party.
Dastgir is fifth the Punjab IGP since the PTI formed government in the province in 2018. He had replaced Capt (retd) Arif Nawaz Khan on November 26, 2019.