The Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore in letter to the Punjab IG Police has sought powers for transfer and postings of DSPs, but the Punjab IG did not respond even after 7 days. CCPO Omar Sheikh in a letter to Punjab IG Police Inam Ghani on September 20, had requested that the crime rate in the city is increasing with every passing day, arguing that where crime rate is high, domineering officers should be posted.
The CCPO clarified that the authority to transfer DSPs has been with the CCPO many times before but the Punjab IG Police did not respond even after 7 days.
It may be recalled that the arrest of accused Abid Malhi in the Motorway gangrape case has become a difficult task for the Punjab Police. It has been 20 days since the incident of rape on the Motorway has occurred but the police have not been able to arrest the accused so far.
It may be recalled that on September 9, a woman from Gujranwala was on the way back to Gujranwala from Lahore with her two children in her car at around 1.30 pm when her car ran out of petrol on Ring Road near Gujjarpura. The woman was waiting for her husband when the car stopped running on the motorway due to running out of petrol.
Meanwhile, she also called the motorway police for help but the motorway police reportedly said that no one was on emergency duty and the beat of Gujjarpura has not been allotted to anyone yet. Instead of arresting the accused, the Lahore CCPO had found the woman guilty of going out at night although later he had to apologize for the comment.
Lahore CCPO Omar Sheikh sought powers from IG Punjab for the transfer of DSP rank officers, declaring the transfer of powers necessary for crime control in the metropolis.
According to details, Lahore CCPO Sheikh Omar has sought greater powers from the Punjab IG regarding transfer and postings. The CCPO has sent a letter to Inam Ghani regarding the appointment and transfer powers of Grade 17 DSPs.
The letter justifies that crime is on the rise in the city. For crime control, it is necessary to transfer officers so that better officers can be deployed in the city to control the crime rate and investigate cases in better manner.
The CCPO’s letter is also based on the orders issued by former Punjab IG Javed Iqbal on February 12, 2011, in which the powers of transfer of DSPs have been given to regional officers. Earlier, copies of powers given by various IGPs for transfer of DSPs have also been attached. The matter has been referred by the Punjab IG Police to R&D branch for reviewing the law.
