No grouping in Punjab Police: IGP

LAHORE: Newly-appointed Inspector General of Police Punjab Inam Ghani has said establishing writ of the state is one of his top priorities. Talking to reporters at Central Police Office after assuming charge of his post and issuing instructions to the officers in his first formal meeting with them, he said, "The capital city police officer (CCPO) Lahore is subordinate to me. I have no problem with any officer. Tariq Masood Yasin is my batch mate, if he is not satisfied with me then this is his right." He said that there was no grouping in Punjab Police and all reports regarding grouping of seniors and juniors were contrary to the facts and baseless.

The IG said maintaining law and order in the province, ensuring prompt solution to the problems of citizens and ensuring uniform rule of law are his top priorities. In order to meet the expectations, all the principal staff officers posted in the Central Police Office and the command officers posted in the regions and districts will have to play their effective role in the best possible way, he said. He said the officers and personnel who would bring the oppressors to justice and support the oppressed people would be the vanguard of his team so all the officers should keep themselves active for further improvement in the process of public safety and service delivery. He asked the officers to improve the image of the police in society with their positive attitude.

"I will make sure that transfers and postings are based solely on performance and good reputation so that all officers make selfless service to citizens without any pressure," he added. He asserted that ensuring uniform enforcement of the law is one of his top priorities. Adherence to merit, discipline and strict implementation of the SOPs will be ensured, he added.

Besides speeding up free registration of FIRs, special attention would also be given to improve the quality of investigation, he said. He said transforming the police force into a public-friendly force by making an ethical change in its behaviour is an important part of his policy. Along with making the recruitment policy more effective, further upgrade of the training system and transfer, posting and promotion merit observance will be ensured in all cases, he stated.

While answering the questions asked by the media people, IG Inam Ghani said that the team of officers working in all the regions and districts of Punjab comprises of the best professional officers and no one of them will be replaced for any reason but all the field officers, including CPO, have been empowered for supervision. He said that in order to make the working system of the Central Police Office more functional, focus would be on reorganisation and upgrade so that the departmental affairs could be carried out more efficiently and diligently.

He said the Central Police Office is the home of the police officers and any meeting of the officers in it is an internal matter of the police force. He said that CCPO Lahore, all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs are committed to protecting and serving the people by ensuring implementation of government orders and police as a disciplined force.

He said that timely provision of information would improve the relations with the media so that the media would continue to identify crimes as well as publicise the good works of police. The meeting was attended by Additional IG PHP Captain (r) Zafar Iqbal Awan, Additional IG IAB Azhar Hameed Khokhar, Additional IG Training Shahid Hanif, Additional IG R&D Ghulam Rasool Zahid, Additional IG Establishment BA Nasir, Additional IG Safe City Rao Sardar, DIG Legal Jawad Ahmed Dogar, Additional IG Logistics and Procurement Ali Amir Malik and Additional IG Operations Zulfiqar Hameed, Additional IG CTD Muhammad Tahir Rai, DIG Zaeem Iqbal Sheikh and other officers.

It is pertinent to mention here that before the new IG Inam Ghani took charge of his office, he visited former IG Shoaib Dastgir's house to meet him. The former IG did not reach the Central Police Office to hand over the chain of command to Inam Ghani.