LAHORE: Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Arif Nawaz has restricted police personnel from using cell phones in stations across the province, it emerged on Monday.
The ban comes after several cases emerged in recent days of suspects dying in the police custody due to alleged torture. The provincial police department has faced severe public backlash after several torture videos went viral on the social media.
In line with the directives of the IGP, the Central Police Office (CPO) has issued a notification to all police stations of Punjab in this connection.
According to the notification, staff members of the police stations will follow the same restriction.
The staff members will have to hand over their smartphones at the front desk before moving into the police stations. However, SHO and moharar will be exempted from the curb.
An office order sent to all Punjab police officers by the additional IGP on behalf of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Arif Nawaz Khan stated that it had been observed that police officials were using mobile phones while on duty even though “clear directions in this regard have already been conveyed to all field formations”.
“Frequent violations of these directions/SOPs reflect badly on the performance of supervising officers,” it said, adding: “It was the responsibility of the field formations to get the instructions implemented in letter and spirit”.
“In future, no officer below the rank of SHO (Station House Officer) or in-charge of a deployed duty will use a cellphone while on duty,” the letter read.
It also said that it was “strictly forbidden” to make a video of police officers on duty or upload a video of police officers performing their duty.
Interestingly, lower-ranking officers will be allowed to use ordinary phones that do not have a video recording feature.
The citizens have criticised the decision of the IGP Punjab, saying it was aimed to cover up their misdeeds and discriminatory attitude of the police with the commoners in the police stations. As in the recent days, the Punjab police earned a bad reputation for a number of incidents of torture which led to even death of proletariats.
Shameful decision of IG Punjab! #No_Mobile_No_Recording_Of_Police_gardi..@SHABAZGIL @FarhanKVirk @fawadchaudhry pic.twitter.com/ylK68eGxwU
— Zeeshan Khan (@sweet_khan234) September 9, 2019
Instead of Law implementation for Police Officers to warn them for torturing suspects in custody and illegal detentions. Our Respected IG Punjab has banned the use of cellphones by officers while on duty and forbid them from capturing the vedio of other police personnel on duty pic.twitter.com/OniBEe4eab
— Rumiii (@AishiiiRumiii) September 9, 2019
The IGP was equated to yazid since the decision was announced on Ashura.
Dour-e-Hazir k yazid ! IG punjab bans smart phone in thanna to hide the truth, brutal & ugly face of Punjab police. Shame on #IGPunjab.#PunjabPolice pic.twitter.com/f9AeSIYVLO
— Faisal (@FaisalViewss) September 9, 2019
One citizen said that the IGP was not just a part of the system but a ruler and protector of police culture.
IG Punjab Police is also part of that Police Mafia. What could we expect from him but to save his own corrupt below Humanity colleagues.
— Zahid Baig (@mzahidbaig1) September 9, 2019
Many thought that the ban of cellphones was a glaringly obvious injustice and cover-up of corruption.
what a reform done by IG Punjab for not letting people use smartphones so no one have the evidence if any police officer bribes him or beat him to death brilliant strategy to save your corrupt system. #FireIGpunjab
— The Patriot (@pti_patriot) September 9, 2019
While Ayub Salahuddin’s case was the talk of the town, two similar incidents of police torture were also reported from Lahore.
In the first incident, a person from the suburbs of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) namely Amir Masih was tortured to such an extent that his kidneys failed. Now, confirmed by the post-mortem report.
In the second incident, officers of the Gujjarpura police station fearlessly demanded ransom from the families of some men involved in selling drugs while they were locked in custody.
Furthermore, a woman in Vehari was hanged upside down while the police gave her electric shocks for their amusement. DSP and seven other cops have been suspended in the incident. But whatever happens to them after suspension–do they get penalised–remains a mystery.
In Pakpattan, Station House Officer (SHO) Ejaz, during the Urs of Baba Farid Ganj Shakar, misbehaved and harassed the locals present on the scene, in addition to getting a few old and feeble folks beaten.
These incidents came months after the Sahiwal killings, where a family, including minors, was killed in cold blood by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on suspicion of being militants. The case has yet to reach its conclusion.
Earlier on September 2, the provincial IGP had said that relevant officer would be held accountable “if torture was proved as the cause of death in custody.”
In a letter issued to regional and district police officials, the IGP also warned that DPOs, SPs, SDPOs and supervisory officers would be held responsible if any such case surfaced again in the future.
He said that the internal accountability branch had already been issued standing orders which would automatically come into effect on the report of any such incident.
He directed police officials to ensure implementation of orders for supremacy of the rule and law.
