NEWS > 03 April 2006

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By Shahnawaz Khan
03 April 2006

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Crime watch: Lahore Traffic Po

Traffic Police is generally considered to be the backbone of the police department, as it deals directly with the public on the roads. However, is Punjab�s Traffic Police the backbone of the province�s police department? Has the Punjab Traffic Police ever played a role in building a positive image of the police department or has it even created better liaison between the public and police?

Unfortunately, the Traffic Police in the Punjab, especially in Lahore, is the weakest vertebra in the police department�s backbone and the situation is worsening by the day.

Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has taken several steps to improve Punjab�s Traffic Police, one of them being approving new vacancies for 6,000 traffic police personnel in five major cities of the Punjab. Elahi has also approved new uniforms and better salary packages, such as those being offered to Motorway Police, for Traffic Police personnel in the province.

Elahi and Punjab Inspector General of Police Ziaul Hassan Khan have been keen to improve Lahore�s Traffic Police and have taken several steps in this direction, but their steps have proved futile.

Sources in the Traffic Police department told Daily Times that Traffic Inspector Ayub had met Traffic Superintendent of Police (SP) Waseem Ahmad a couple of weeks ago and briefed him (the SP) about corrupt traffic policemen and their corrupt methods.

Sources said the SP issued notice to all traffic policemen in charge of their respective sectors in Lahore, but no action was taken against them and 15 out of the total number of policemen were �found innocent after negotiations�.

Sources said the SP then told his staff to �secretly� compile details of corruption by senior Traffic Police officers, which they did and presented the report to the SP.

Sources said the report had stated that the City Circle deputy superintendent of police (DSP) allegedly �earned� more than Rs 50,000 a month from various sectors including Rs 20,000 to Rs 22,000 from the Misri Shah sector and Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 from the Kotwali sector. The report also stated that transport companies and wagon and bus operators also paid large sums to the City Circle DSP, sources added.

The report said the Shahdara Circle DSP allegedly �earned� more than Rs 100,000 a month including Rs 25,000 from the Shahdara sector, Rs 35,000 from the Ravi Road sector and Rs 35,000 from the Lorry Adda sector and that transport companies and wagon and bus operators also paid him large sums, sources added.

The Mughalpura Circle DSP allegedly �earned� about Rs 50,000 a month including Rs 15,000 from the Garhi Shahu sector and Rs 15,000 from the McLeod Road sector and also got large sums of money from transporters, sources quoted the report as saying.

The report stated that the Saddar Circle DSP allegedly �earned� about Rs 80,000 a month including Rs 22,000 from the Raiwind sector, Rs 20,000 from the Thokar Niaz Baig sector, Rs 25,000 from the Nawankot sector and Rs 20,000 from the Bund Road sector and large sums of money from contractors running tractor-trailers and from vehicles being by factories, sources added. The report said the Anarkali Circle DSP allegedly �earned� about Rs 50,000 a month including Rs 15,000 from the Anarkali sector, Rs 25,000 from the Lower Mall sector and Rs 6,000 from the Mall-III sector, sources said.

The report also said the Cantonment DSP allegedly �earned� about Rs 50,000 a month including Rs 12,000 from the Cantonment sector, Rs 2,000 from the Old Airport sector, Rs 15,000 from the New Airport sector, Rs 15,000 from the Defence sector, Rs 8,000 from the Mall-I sector and Rs 5,000 from the Mall-II sector, sources added.

The report said the Ichhra Circle DSP allegedly �earned� more than Rs 50,000 a month including Rs 8,000 from the Gulberg sector, Rs 4,000 from the Shadman sector, Rs 20,000 from the Ichhra sector, Rs 20,000 from the Mozang sector and Rs 10,000 from the Wahdat Road sector, sources said.

The report also said the Model Town DSP allegedly �earned� more than Rs 80,000 a month including Rs 18,000 from the Model Town sector, Rs 22,000 from the Kot Lakhpat sector, Rs 18,000 from the Township sector and Rs 25,000 from the Kahna sector, sources added. The report stated that the Special Squads DSP allegedly �earned� about Rs 100,000 a month, as he was in charge of eight special squads and each squad �earned� him about Rs 15,000 a month, sources said.

The report said the Licensing Authority DSP allegedly �earned� more than Rs 200,000 a month, as every candidate �paid� Rs 1,000 for a license and the DSP approved about 10 special candidates on a daily basis besides routine applications, sources added.

The report said the Complaints DSP allegedly �earned� about Rs 15,000 a month, as a policeman appointed by the DSP allegedly negotiated with cops against whom complaints were filed after which the cops paid him off and the inquiries against them were dropped, sources added. The report also said the Motor Transport Officer (MTO) allegedly �earned� more than Rs 80,000 under the head of repairing Traffic Police vehicles and purchasing car oil etc, sources said. Sources also claimed that several senior Lahore Police department including Traffic Police officers �collected� Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 from junior officers claiming advertisements were needed for the Punjab Police department magazine called Mohafiz.

Corruption in the provincial police department has reached a critical point and it is imperative for the Punjab IG to put a stop to this criminality. Police should protect and serve citizens, not rob them blind. This report compiled by the Traffic SP highlights the stuff Lahore�s Traffic Police is made of. If this is what is happening at the top level, imagine what the condition must be among the lower tier of traffic policemen.

Not only is Lahore�s Traffic Police corrupt, it is also incompetent. Sometimes corrupt practices can � to an extent � be overlooked if the department or people involved in making money do their job efficiently. However, Lahore�s Traffic Police is not trained to handle the city�s increasing traffic, which leads to several major jams on the city�s main arteries. Traffic cops from other cities are sometimes asked to help with Lahore�s traffic, especially when dignitaries or other senior government officials are present in the city.

One such example is that of Faisalabad Traffic SP Malik Abdul Aziz, who was asked to control Lahore�s traffic on March 23. His help has also been sought on several other occasions including during the urs of Hazrat Ali Hajvery (Data Gunj Bakhsh), the Lahore Marathon and tablighi congregation at Raiwind.

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By Shahnawaz Khan03 April 2006

Crime watch: Lahore Traffic Po

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By Shahnawaz Khan
03 April 2006