LAHORE: As a deadlock over the registration of a case continued following the refusal by PTI Chairman Imran Khan to withdraw the name of a senior army officer from the complaint, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Faisal Shahkar has requested for his services to be withdrawn from the Punjab government with “immediate effect”.
On Thursday, the ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan had suffered a multiple bullet wounds to his leg after a gunman opened fire on his container as he was leading the PTI’s “Haqeeqi Azadi March”.
In a letter sent to the chief minister’s office (CMO) and chief secretary Punjab on Sunday, the provincial police chief expressed his inability to continue his current assignments citing “personal reasons”.
“I am writing to convey that due to personal reasons, it is not possible for me to continue on my current assignments. It is; therefore, requested that services may kindly be withdrawn with immediate from Government of the Punjab and placed at the disposal of Federal Government,” reads the letter.
While the police had on Saturday taken another person into custody in connection with the attack on Imran and other party leaders during their long march in Punjab’s Wazirabad but the case of the incident was yet to be registered despite lapse of four days.
PTI demands immediate removal of IGP Punjab
Earlier in the day, a relative of PTI Chairman Imran Khan moved an application to register an FIR against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal Naseer.
Sources said that the IG Punjab expressed reservations over the names being mentioned in the FIR which ultimately led to the deepening of rifts between him and the coalition Punjab government.
Meanwhile, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi, son of Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, held a meeting with PTI Chairman Imran Khan at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Lahore, on Sunday and discussed matters pertaining to the registration of FIR following an attack on Khan and other party leaders.
Sources said the former premier directed Moonis to remove IGP Faisal from his post and he assured Khan of implementing his direction. On Saturday, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi had urged the IGP to resign from the post saying that if he “cannot register an FIR against the attack(s) on Imran Khan then he should leave the post”.
Meanwhile, the federal government suspended Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Muhammad Dogar for not making satisfactory security arrangements, especially in red zone area of Lahore, due to which a charged mob of PTI activists, protesting against the assassination attempt on their leader, allegedly vandalized the Punjab Governor House.
It may be mentioned that the federal government wanted “defiant” CCPO Dogar to relinquish the charge of his duties and report to the Establishment Division, Islamabad. The federal and the provincial governments were in a tug of war since Sept 21 when the former withdrew Dogar from Punjab, asking the province to ensure compliance.
The federal government led by PML-N was reportedly annoyed with the CCPO over registration of cases on anti-terrorism charges against two of its leaders – MNA Javed Latif and Marriyum Aurangzeb – in a Lahore police station. The PML-N top leadership was convinced the CCPO had played a key role in lodging the cases.
However, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi had refused to relieve the officer from the province, terming it a case of political victimisation.
According the notification issued by the Establishment Division on Sunday, Ghulam Mahmood Dogar, a BS-21 officer of the Police Service of Pakistan presently serving under Government of Punjab, is placed under suspension, with immediate effect and until further orders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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