Illegal deductions from low ranking cop's salaries

* "˜Will your father pay for senior officers' expenses?'

By Shahnawaz Khan

LAHORE: Naqdi Moharrar and other officials are earning huge "˜commissions' on the illegal deduction of Rs 10 to Rs 50 from the Rs 2,000 increments of police constables and head constables deployed in Lahore, sources disclosed to Daily Times.

Salaries of low ranking policemen who have no bank accounts are usually rounded off to hundreds. A constable whose salary is Rs 3,320 is given Rs 3,300, for example, but no record is made of where the rest of the money goes.

Constables standing in queues at Qilla Gujjar Singh Police Lines to receive their increased salaries told Daily Times that after similar concerns were raised earlier, former Deputy Inspector General Tariq Saleem Dogar ordered policemen to open bank accounts so that their salaries could be deposited directly into them.

About 4,000 low ranking police officials did not open bank accounts however, and still draw their salaries from the Naqdi Moharrar. The increments would not be transferred to banks either, they feared, and about 17,900 constables and head-constables would collect their salaries from the Naqdi Moharrar after a deduction of Rs 10 to Rs 50.

A constable said he would not complain because the pay distributor would create problems for him and his seniors would also be angry. Another constable who had just received his salary said a small sum had been deducted from it "in routine". He said once the moharrar deducted Rs 200 from his pay. "Will your father pay for the officers' expenses?" he retorted when asked why the money had been deducted.

"Constables and head constables earn quite a lot of money in the field," another policeman quoted the moharrar as saying, "but it kills them to contribute a little sum to the officers' expenses."

A senior official said it was very hard to stay clean and not become a part of the system. "I do not mean to say all senior officials take bribes," he said. "There are a few officers who are committed to fighting corruption." Corruption began from senior officers and trickled all the way down to low ranks, he said. Some police stations got salaries in lump sum, which were distributed at the police station, a head constable said, and the representative who received the salary from the police lines was usually blamed for the deduction. The lowest in rank got the highest deductions.

Police officials said there were many "mafias" in Lahore Police and all senior officers knew about the deductions but none of them stopped the practice because of personal interests.

DIG Aamir Zulfiqar Khan said that he had complaints in this regard and had directed an SP to investigate the matter and compile a report in three days. Anyone found guilty would face stern departmental and legal action, he said.