'Patronising criminals': All 93 staffers of Dijkot police station transferred, SHO suspended.

Byline: Saleem Mubarak

FAISALABAD -- The entire staff, comprising 93 policemen, of Dijkot police station, including investigation in charge, was transferred, while the station house officer was suspended from service, on charges of corruption, patronising criminals and drug-peddlers.

In 2006, the then city police officer (CPO) Aslam Tareen had changed the entire staff of two police stations- Sahianwala and Chak Jhumra - on charges of leaking information to notorious Bajwa gang allegedly involved in different heinous crimes.

The gang ringleader Khurram Bajwa was later gunned down by an unidentified attacker(s) and some of his accomplices were also killed by their rivals or police.

Sources said CPO Sohail Chaudhary has been informed that Dijkot police were not actively participating in a crackdown on gamblers, drug-pushers and illegal weapons. On probing into the issue, the CPO came to know that majority policemen were hand in glove with the criminals and drug-pushers.

Following the reports, sources said the CPO transferred the entire staff comprising 93 policemen posted at the Dijkot police station so that a strong message could be sent to the criminals and and an aggressive campaign launched against them.

The CPO suspended the SHO Rana Asim from service for allegedly patronising drug peddlers who were selling narcotics with impunity in his jurisdiction.

As per sources, the Dijkot police station staffers had been transferred to remote areas of thre district.

Rai Farooq has been appointed new SHO of Dijkot with a direction to launch an aggressive crackdown on the criminals and purge the areas under his command from such elements.

During the last couple of days, the district police claimed to have seized a large quantity of arms, narcotics, kites and string reels as part of the crackdown.

Thousands of kites seized during...