PESHAWAR: A number of concerns by the cops in some districts have affected the discipline of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police to the extent that even junior cops publicly levelled serious allegations against a Deputy General of Police (DIG) when he was chairing a grand meeting in Lakki Marwat.
In an unprecedented act by the personnel of a uniformed force, a constable of the Lakki Police with a copy of Quran in his hand levelled serious allegations against the DIG Bannu when he was chairing a police darbar to listen and address issues being faced by the Constabulary. Another colleague was filming the episode and later made it viral.
When the staff of the senior officer wanted to stop the cop, other colleagues took stand and asked the DIG that the policeman should be allowed to speak.
Later a video message of the cop to the new Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed repeated the allegations, and said that nobody took notice when his colleagues were being martyred in target killings and terrorist attacks. He even asked for removal of the top boss of the region for his failure to stop the target killing of policemen and address their issues.
The Lakki Marwat police have protested against their bosses many times in the last few months.
Lakki is among the districts that have witnessed the highest number of terrorist attacks in the last couple of years. Also, Lakki is among the few districts in the southern KP where many police officers were transferred as punishment in the last few years. Posting in the south is considered the worst period for any senior or junior cops due to the level of threat and the number of attacks on the force. There are no special incentives for any cop in southern districts despite the highest level of threat to their lives.
Last year, the personnel of the Lakki Marwat police blocked the main Indus Highway for many days. They were protesting against the everyday attacks and the continuous silence of the government and their bosses.
The cops were demanding handing over complete control of security of the district to police. Apart from all the top officials of the Bannu region, senior cops from Peshawar rushed to hold talks with the protesting policemen, asking to end their sit-in. The officials assured their grievances will be addressed.
The subordinates for many days refused to comply with the orders of their top bosses and continued the protest camp. Some of them said they were ready to resign but would not withdraw their genuine demands.
In January 2023, a number of KP policemen had staged protests against the martyrdom of over 86 colleagues in a bomb attack at the mosque of the Peshawar Police Lines. However, the Lakki episode was the first in the country where personnel of a uniformed force staged a sit-in and blocked a main inter-provincial highway for many consecutive days.
The protestors said many policemen were kidnapped, ambushed and their houses and families attacked in Lakki Marwat and other towns of Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions in the last few years.
Policemen in the merged districts have also staged protests on many occasions in the last few years but those protests were mostly related to their service structure and issues related to their induction in KP police from the khassadar force and levies.
