As many as 4,934 police officers and officials have been punished in the last two years on different disciplinary grounds, while 15 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) and acting superintendents were also a part of this number.
According to a police report released on Friday, between October 2013 and September 2015, around 4,934 police officials and officers have been either removed from service or awarded other punishments on disciplinary grounds.
This includes 15 DSPs and acting superintendents of police, 44 inspectors, 328 sub-inspectors, 321 assistant sub-inspectors, 385 head constables and 3,842 constables. Out of theses 10 DSPs and acting SPS, four inspectors, 42 SIS, 34 ASIS, 51 head constables and 446 constables have been removed from service.
An unprecedented number of police officials and officers of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police have been awarded punishments on multifarious grounds since October 2013.
It is the first time in history that senior level-officers including DSPs and acting SPs have been removed from service because of misconduct.
An effective internal accountability mechanism is a pre-requisite to bridging the ever-increasing gap between the public and police. IGP Nasir Khan Durrani has developed an organised system i.e. the Police Access System to address public complaints in the shortest. The IGP also introduced the concept of I-call establishing a 24/7 direct link between himself and the public.
All these punishments have been awarded after following a due procedure of law.
Whenever a complaint against a police official/officer is put before the IGP, it is forwarded to three different agencies for verification and an initial fact finding inquiry is conducted.
This procedure is to be completed within 24 hours. If the officer/official is found guilty in the initial inquiry he is suspended, and the initiation of departmental disciplinary proceedings are ordered to be conducted under KP Police Efficiency & Discipline Rules.
On completion of these proceedings, the delinquent officer, if found guilty, is awarded appropriate punishment in line with the recommendation of the inquiry officer.
It is pertinent to mention that through the efforts of IGP Nasir Durrani, the KP Police Efficiency & Discipline rules were amended in the year 2014 thereby empowering the supervisory officers to initiate disciplinary proceeding against their subordinates and award them punishments.