RECORDER REPORT

LAHORE: Issuing a fact-finding report on the performance of the Punjab police and the overall law and order, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek has claimed that those police officials who work on instructions of the Punjab government and victimise political opponents of the rulers are given out-of-turn promotions and awarded numerous other benefits.

The report released by party central President in the Punjab Basharat Jaspal and his South and north Punjab counterparts, Mohammed Mushtaq and Fayyaz Warraich points to police 200 officials in Rawalpindi, 270 in Lahore, 120 in Faisalabad, 190 in Multan, 73 in Sargodha and 80 in Gujranwala getting out-of-turn promotions on political grounds. It also claims the chief minister himself is transferring and posting constables to inspectors.

The report also claims the police officials who acted on the Punjab government instruction to kill party workers in the Model Town incident have been showered with many promotions and postings. “The Punjab Police has become the biggest violator of human rights in the country,” claims the report.

It then reveals that alone in 2015 over 100,000 fake police cases against political opponents were thrown out by courts while over 700 blind murders took place and the police failed to apprehend over 25,000 proclaimed offenders.

It says, “No concrete efforts have been made to get the National Action Plan implemented and apart from the Pakistan army, nobody else seems to be serious in getting it implemented. The Punjab has been transformed into a police state and the rulers consider the police as their personal servant. Policemen are used to influence political opponents to get what they want and over 60 percent of police officials do not even report for duty but get paid every month. Car and motorbike thefts are a common sight in the Punjab and nobody is there to check this crime.”