Around 60 police officers deputed at GT Road in Sadhoki to stop the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) protesters to move ahead have asked Punjab Police Inspector-General Rao Sardar to launch an inquiry into the “flawed security plan” for the protest.
Police officials who were facing the protesters head on in Hafizabad held their senior cadre responsible for the poor security arrangements.
As per sources, a letter had been written to the IGP on Tuesday in which the the police officials have highlighted the senior officers’ negligence, and blamed the district police and other law enforcers for the failure of security plan, resulting in death of at least seven police officers.
The personnel demanded for constituting a committee to identify those who were responsible for this ‘cowardice’ in this intense clash between the police and the TLP protestors.
According to sources, the police officers asked as to why the back-up force failed to show up when the frontline was struggling with pushing back the violent protesters.
They went on to state that the committee should also investigate whether the security plan matched the requirements, while adding that was replicating the plan of other security branches feasible in the case as well?
The personnel also called for registering criminal cases against those responsible for putting the lives of the frontline officials at stake.
“It is the time that instead of running the department on bureaucratic orders of individuals, it is run on scientific grounds,” they stated in the application.
An officer deputed in Hafizabad, SI Khalid Nawaz Warya eloborated in the letter that he, along with 60 other policemen, stopped the movement of a large number of protesters and pushed them back bravely. However, after two hours of clashes, depletion of supplies of tear gas shells and other equipment begun. He added that the clashes had also resulted into multiple injuries to his fellow officials.
Officer Warya went on to reveal that when the situation got worse, the backup force flee from the scene. Resulting in the forward force to multiply their efforts.
In this regard, IG Rao Sardar held a meeting at the Central Police Office (CPO), where the role of police officers from Lahore, Sheikhupura and Gujranwala was pointed out. IG Rao went on to jeer at the senior officers for bringing bad name to police, and issued a warning to ‘incompetent officials’.
It has been further revealed by sources that PM Imran Khan has asked Punjab CM Usman Buzdar to justify how the protesters managed to exit Lahore despite presence of forces like the Anti-Riot Force (ARF).
During the meeting, the failure of Lahore police to stop TLP supporters outside their headquarters, failure of the reinforcements at Sadhoki GT Road and inability to stop their movement inside Lahore over the passage of two days was brought to light.
The performance of the intelligence wing of Lahore police also came in question during the meeting. Adding to that, senior police officers have also reportedly held the provincial government responsible for its policy of dealing with the protesters.
Lastly, reservations have been expressed by the command over the signing of an agreement with the TLP leadership, which is blatant ignorance of the loss of lives of the police officers during the protests.
