Daily Times

The new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa inspector general of police, Dr Sanaullah Abbassi, has renewed expectations of public and officials due to three reasons. Firstly, the PTI manifesto and trust of PM Imran Khan is not to be betrayed as far as accountability, fairness and justice are concerned; secondly, the KP Police has been a very brave, bold, competent, ready to sacrifices and committed force but there have been serious leadership issues in the force in the last few years, and certain officers have turned into a mafia and pressure groups which need to be fixed; and thirdly, the new IGP is known as an academic, upright, straightforward, institutional-minded, and an officer of established integrity.

Corruption, grouping and indecisive policy- making are not his style. He believes in across the board accountability and quick decision making in the public interest. Owing to the above situation and expectations where a popular police force like that of KP is marred with corruption, especially because of the arms scandal and polio scandal, on the one hand and rising terrorist attacks on the other. These factors make the job of the new IGP a bit difficult.

The PTI believes the OGP be given in a free hand as enunciated in the Police Act, 2017, a landmark legislation by the previous PTI provincial government. However, crime and corruption in Peshawar are beyond one’s imagination. The Peshawar Police is as corrupt as is the force in other parts of Pakistan. Fake recoveries, theft of weapons from Malkhana, tampering of with case records, replacement of original case weapons with fake Darra-made weapons, and connivance with land mafia besides running businesses of property, drugs and NCP-vehicles smuggling are a few chronic issues of Peshawar police. So, the first challenge is to cleanse the Peshawar police of crime and corruption.

Mere a transfer of a few SHOs or DSPs will not cure the force. It needs a competent CCPO who is bold and strong enough to control the unruly police in Peshawar. As in the past, even a few SHOs threatened a CCPO in his office. The office needs a man of strong nerves and the one who understands the dynamics of the city of Peshawar and who can lay hands on land mafia. They will face crime bugging, fake recoveries, corruption in Peshawar traffic, funds embezzlement and posting of SHOs.

Peshawar police is the face of whole KP Police. Another challenge is of putting an end to grouping among officers. It started with IGPs in the past. This unfortunate situation has impacted the career of a number of good officers. Another anomaly is that certain officers think that the coveted, high profiled and field postings are only their privilege and right. They enjoy DPO and RPO slots consecutively and regularly, no matter who is in the political governments. They have developed strong links with all parties and have become filthy rich, so they can afford such luxuries.

Mere a transfer of a few SHOs or DSPs will not cure the force. It needs a competent CCPO who is bold and strong enough to control the unruly police in Peshawar. As in the past, even a few SHOs threatened a CCPO in his office

Whenever they are assigned some desk jobs or low profile tasks, they at once move to other agencies and provinces. This tradition has to be discouraged outrightly.

Shaheed Safwat Ghayur spent 14 long years in offices including the IB; Shaheed Malak Saad spent 10 long years in CPO; former IG Dr Naeem Khan spent three years in the CPO office; ex-IG Salahuddin Mehsud spent four years in the CTD, but today no one wants to spend a single day in such offices. Why? This is a big challenge. According to a retired police officer, ” In the past, we used to give equal opportunities of policing to a young ASP or SP, both in rural and urban areas and on the higher management level; a senior officer would be given a chance in the field as well as in the allied units and CPO, so they understand the policy making and rules and welfare of the force, but today IGs have little idea of the career-planning of their officers.”

When asked to comment on the initial days of new IG Dr Abbassi, a senior officer on the condition of anonymity told this scribe, “After a long time, after Abbas Khan, we are watching a decision making with delegated authority by the IGP. He believes in fair play and transparency. Also, he believes in quick decisions and actions.

He has regards for seniority and merit and he has no likes and dislikes. The marginalized and victimised officers at all levels are happy on his style of administration and hopefully he will meet the challenges as his action against the NAB- convicted is an example, and people expect that he will remove all the accused officers in Arms Scandal and Polio Scandal and will purge the Peshawar city police from corrupt and criminal elements.”

Only time will tell if he met the expectations.

The writer is a senior Journalist