(Karachi) Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sindh Mushtaq Mahar has decided to defer his leave and also issued instructions to his officers to take back their leave applications for 10 days in the larger national interest, media reported on Wednesday.
As a result, IG Sindh decided to proceed on leave and subsequently all ranks decided that they would also apply for leave to protest the humiliation meted out to Sindh police. This was a spontaneous and heartfelt reaction and made on an individual rather than a collective basis,
— Sindh Police (@sindhpolicedmc) October 20, 2020
Mahar's decision came hours after Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met him at IG House and asked him to retract his leave application and carry out his duty.
because every single member of the department felt an acute sense of disrespect.
— Sindh Police (@sindhpolicedmc) October 20, 2020
Sindh police is immensely grateful to the Army Chief for realising the sense of hurt that prevailed within a uniformed force, and for promptly ordering an inquiry into the matter,
Meanwhile, a statement issued by Sindh police said that Mushtaq Mahar asked his officers to wait until the conclusion of the inquiry launched into the incident.
which he has also assured will be impartial in order to restore the prestige of Sindh police. Sindh Police is also grateful to the chairman of the PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and the honourable CM Sindh for coming to the IG House and showing solidarity with the police leadership.
— Sindh Police (@sindhpolicedmc) October 20, 2020
“Sindh police is immensely grateful to the Army Chief for realizing the sense of hurt that prevailed within a uniformed force, and for promptly ordering an inquiry into the matter, which he has also assured will be impartial in order to restore the prestige of Sindh police,” read the statement.
"We expect that justice will be done to Sindh Police in the coming days so that morale and administrative autonomy of police may be reinforced for all times to come."
Earlier, in wake of Capt Safdar's arrest episode in Karachi on October 19, Inspector General of Police Sindh Mushtaq Meher and other top police officials proceeded on leave.
The Sindh police chief and other officials including AIG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon, and DIGs Javed Akbar Riaz and Omar Shahid Hamid also applied for leave.
They maintained that in the recent episode of registration of FIR against Capt (r) Safdar in which police high command has not only been mishandled and ridiculed, but all ranks of Sindh police have been demoralized and shocked.
The police officials said that in order to come out of this shock and settle down, they need to go on leave.
Sindh police has always been a disciplined force which believes in institutional harmony between all key national institutions and has always been cognisant of its responsibility to serve and protect the citizens of this province and thus, keeping this in mind,
— Sindh Police (@sindhpolicedmc) October 20, 2020
On October 19, Sindh Police nabbed Capt (R) Safdar from a hotel in Karachi. The arrest was reported to be in a case registered against him for chanting political slogans in the vicinity of the Mazar-e-Quaid.
The police registered a case against PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz, Capt (R) Safdar, and 200 others at the Brigade Police Station in Karachi for alleged desecration of Mazar-e-Quaid.