LAHORE: The caretaker government and new chief of Punjab Police have reshuffled over 150 more police officers, including 25 SPs, SSPs and 138 DSPs, across the province during the last two days, creating uncertainty and unrest among the officers, affecting their work.

There are reports that a record over 500 transfers/postings have been made in the police during the first 20 days of the caretaker government so far. In many cases, theincumbent police chief rotated the police officers prematurely from one place to another, mentioning no reason or motive behind the changes.

An official source said that amid the recent spate of transfers/postings, the government has also made appointments of some police officers on their own choice, raising a question about transparency in the appointment criteria. He said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was granting approval for each and every posting these days.

Like, he said, Faisalabad City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Mahmood Hamdani had been posted as Rawalpindi CPO vice Syed Shahzad Nadeem Bukhari.

The source said both Bukhari and Hamdani were BPS-19 officers andfrom 36th Common.

He said the authorities reportedly `accommodated` Hamdani on his own choice against a senior position of DIG rank when he offered himself as `best replacement` of his friend Bukhari in Rawalpindi. He said the above-mentioned two police officers were repeatedly getting postings in the Rawalpindi region where earlier they had served in the tenure of the previous government, raising eyebrows in the police circles.

The official source further the appointment of Hamdani also brought embarrassment for another police officer, Faisal Mukhtar (from the same 36th Common), who was serving as Rawalpindi operations SSP.

As Mr Mukhtar was senior to MrHamdani in the inter-batch seniority, it has landed him (Mukhtar) in trouble to follow the orders of his `junior boss`, he said.

The senior police command has distanced itself from this individual matter, the source said.

For every transfer in the caretalcer set up, a summary is moved first from the IGP office to the CM Secretariat for approval from the ECP, the official said.

Referring to another case, the source said, the caretaker government had recently posted Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi (BPS-19) as the Punjab Highway and Patrol Police DIG. It later reviewed its decision and transferred him to the post of Faisalabad CPO.

He said the independent police experts have lamented that thetransfer/posting practice in recent times had brought embarrassment for the police department.

The experts were of the view that it was not mandatory under the law to transfer `every police officer` of the province ahead of the general election. They said the law or policy allowed only `select changes` in the police, keeping in view the prevailing circumstances.

Requesting anonymity, a BPS-21 officer said the rulers in the Centre and Punjab had already hinted at the possible delay in the general election.

`If they are not willing to hold general election, what`s the purpose of huge mobilisation of the human resource from the SHOs to the rank of additional IG police,` he asks.

He said the frequent transfers inthe force exposed the lack of decision power in police chief Dr Usman Anwar to build an appropriate team. He said the phenomenon of the massive reshuf fie had also badly hampered the police performance and created unrest among the police officers.

According to the notification, of the 23 SPs, Jaranwala SP Arslan Shahzeb has been transferred and posted as Faisalabad SSP (Operations) vice Abdullah Ahmad, awaiting posting Zohaib Nasrullah Ranjha has been transferred and posted as Lahore Dolphin SP vice Taugir Mohammad, SP Arslan Zahid has been posted as Rahim Yar Khan SP against an existing vacancy, Salman Liaqat has been posted as Bahawalpur investigation SP etc.