PESHAWAR: Police authorities on Sunday took punitive action against 25 officers in provincial capital by suspending six stations house officers (SHO), a junior clerk and head of a police post for their alleged involvement in corruption and having contacts with land grabbers and criminal elements.

The newly-posted Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), Dr Mian Saeed Ahmad, also put on notice six sub-divisional police officers and 11 other SHOs for poor supervision and poor performance respectively, read an official statement issued by the city police.

The action, according to senior police officers, was taken after expiry of a 14-day deadline. They said that a meeting was held with all the officers last month where the CCPO set a 14-day deadline to them with clear instructions to take action against drug dealers, land grabbers and criminals, otherwise face the music.

They said that besides the directives, the officers’ activities and their connections were secretly monitored. “They had established links and those links were verified. The action taken against these officials is based on evidence, which were shared during the second meeting held today [Sunday],” a senior police official said.

17 others put on notice for poor performance and weak supervision

He said that nobody was transferred and posted during those last 14 days as clear instructions were issued that the officers’ performance would be evaluated before their reshuffling, which too would be done if required.

Mr Ahmad said, when contacted, said that he waited for 14 days and several sources were contacted and allegations were confirmed. “All these officers will be provided with a hearing opportunity. An inquiry will be carried out against the officials and proper proceedings will take place,” he said.

Besides taking action against the officers allegedly involved in corrupt practices, Mr Ahmad awarded appreciation certificate to SHO of Mattani police station Wajid Khan for his good performance.

Talking to officers from provincial capital during the performance review meeting, Mr Ahmad said that there was no room for corrupt officers in the department. He said that the officers performing well would be encouraged at every stage.

“Protection of life and property of people is police’s core responsibility and you must not only take but accelerate action against criminals and anti-social elements,” he told the officers. He added that registration of cases must be ensured against criminals.

The officers were directed to accelerate action against land grabbers, drug dealers, brothels, proclaimed offenders and the elements involved in sharing immoral content on social media so that people in the provincial capital felt that they were safe and secure.

The statement read that the SHOs of Paharhi Pura, Faqeerabad, Hashatnagri, Pishtakhara, West Cantonment and Khazana were suspended. The suspended head of the police post was posted in Jihangirabad area while the junior clerk was also posted at Khazana police station.

It said that SDPOs, put on notice, were posted in Pishtakhara, Town, Faqeerabad, Hashatnagri, Gulbahar and Regi circles. The SHOs, put on notice, were posted at Tatara, Hayatabad, East Cantonment, Gulbarg, Sarband, Kotwali, Daudzai, Chamkani, Bhana Marhi, Mathra and Badhber police stations.

The meeting was also attended by SSP (Operations) Masood Ahmad, District Police Officer Ray Mazhar Iqbal, SSP (Coordination) Khalid Khan and SSP (Investigation) Noor Jamal Khan.

Meanwhile, in another statement issued late on Sunday night, the capital city police reshuffled officers.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Akif Khan was posted as SHO of Campus police station while SI Faheem Khan, posted at Campus police station, was transferred and posted as SHO of West Cantonment police station. SI Ijazullah was posted as SHO of Pishtakhara, SI Bilal Hussain as SHO of Faqeerabad and SI Adarsh Majmar as SHO of Paharhi Pura while SI Subhanullah was transferred from East Cantonment police station to Hashatnagri and SI Naseebur Rehman was posted as SHO of Khazana police station.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2025