KARACHI, March 23: Violating the set of rules, regulations and procedure governing induction into the police department, three people have been directly inducted into the Sindh police as deputy superintendent of police.
The three “DSPs” hailing from Sindh are receiving training along with a batch of 18 assistant superintendents of police at the National Police Academy, Islamabad.
The training for the 11th Initial Command Course (ICC) commenced on November 3, 2008 and the three “DSPs” joined the course after a lapse of three months.
Well-placed sources said that a former commandant of the National Police Academy had declined to accept the three “DSPs” for training. However, he was transferred and the three “DSPs” were later allowed to join the course that was already under way.
The sources said there were some instances in the past when one DSP was trained along with the ASPs at the police academy, but the training of three DSPs, hailing from the same province, in the same batch was unprecedented.
Quoting the Police Order 2002, Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed told Dawn that the hiring in the police force could only be made in the ranks of constables, assistant sub-inspectors and assistant superintendent of police.
The Police Order 2002 – even after the 87 amendments which have been made to it over the past seven years – clearly states: “The recruitment in the police other than ministerial and specialist cadres shall be [made] in the rank of constables, assistant sub-inspector and assistant superintendent of police.” It adds that selection for direct recruitment in the rank of assistant sub-inspector shall be made through the appropriate public service commission and shall not exceed 25 per cent of the total posts in that rank.
“The recruitment in the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police shall be [made] through the Federal Public Service Commission on all Pakistan basis.” However, the direct appointment of the DSPs flouting all the rules and norms of the appointments in the police force is not unprecedented.
In the 1990s similar direct inductions were made into the Sindh police by the then Pakistan People’s Party-led government. But the inductees were not sent to the National Police Academy for training along with the ASPs. Some of those DSPs even managed to get out-of-turn promotion to the rank of superintendent of police by using their political connections, the sources said.
There are growing fears that if the current trend is not discouraged, the number of such direct appointments may rise in the coming years.
Of the three “DSPs” being trained in the National Police Academy in Islamabad, two happen to be relatives of Sindh’s politicians while the third one is a relative of a senior officer of the Sindh police.
“One of the candidates, Asghar Shaikh, was working in the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, while the other two, Zameer Abbasi and Rizwan Soomro, were assistant directors in the National Accountability Bureau when one fine day they woke up and found themselves in the Sindh police,” remarked a police officer requesting anonymity.

He said their induction into the Sindh police had opened up new avenues for the relatives of politicians and influential people. Now they could get a relative recruited as a DSP without taking any type of examination or meeting the criteria for induction into the police, he said, adding that it seemed that rules were meant only for ordinary people.
The Sindh police have a chequered history as far as irregular appointments and out-of-turn promotions are concerned.
Official records show that 52 out-ofturn promotions were made only in the Sindh police between September 26, 1995 and February 18, 2008. The figure is unmatched when compared with other provinces.
During the brief tenure of former Sindh police chief Dr Shoaib Suddle, a half-hearted attempt was made to review the cases of out-of-turn promotions. But the move fizzled out following his transfer and posting as the director-general of Intelligence Bureau in June 2008.

well this is so typical of Pakistan, it is so frustating to see these acts of influence and nepotism, that its just plain hopeless...

Im 100% sure that these 3 also got the NAB abd NEPRA jobs becoz of their contacts.

What a system!!

I am starting to build the opinion that all these exas are totally a farce, and to really land a job like these u have to either have good contacts with influencial people or pay a gross aount of bribe. Short of that, u dont stand a chance.

the other day at a wedding i overheard that for a DSP 25 lacs bribe is the going rate, and for Inspector FIA 50 lacs.