KARACHI: The Sindh police have placed key training centres/ schools across the province under a junior officer, curtailing the powers of the DIG (training), who had recently initiated inquiries into misuse of funds, illegal recruitments, irregularities in deployment of police force and nepotism, it emerged on Monday.

Informed sources told Dawn that major police training centres in Karachi`s Saeedabad and Razzakabad areas, in Hyderabad, Shahdadpur and Sakrand had been placed under the control of an 18-grade officer while the DIGtraining`s powers had been reduced to dealing with the matters of `minor` training centres located in Larkana, Khairpur and Jam Nawaz Ali.

This notincation has been issued by the AIG (training) with the `approval` of the Sindh IG, added the sources.

This new development of `redistribution of powers` among the DIG-training and the junior officer is lil(ely to undermine `ongoing inquiries` against the heads of these police training schools/ centres,the sources said.They disclosed that the DIGtraining,BarristerAbdulKhalique Shaikh, af ter assuming his charge, had initiated a `monitoring and accountability` system for police trainingcentres across sindh.

`Taking away the administrative powers of these centres from the DIG-training was aimed at saving the blue-eyed boys from the accountability process,` opined the sources. Reports have suggested widespread corruption, misuse of funds and illegal recruitment at these centres.

They further revealed that there were also charges these police training centres had also introduced the concept of `visa system` (policemen are shown on leave but they tended to get salary) and `out duty` (policemen are shown as getting training but in fact, they are deployed for security of influential personalities.) Moreover, the DIG-training had also suspended the line officer (LO) of the Police Training School, Larkana, and the LO of the Police Training Centre Shahdadpur over such malpractices.

The sources disclosed that during the last six months, around 300 policemen had been recruited in `gross violation` of the Police Rules.