LAHORE - Ten thousand personnel of the Punjab police are struggling to sustain in the federal capital, where they were sent more than a month ago to confront marchers.
Last month, when the PAT and PTI left for Islamabad on Azadi and Inqilab marches from Lahore, the provincial government had dispatched 14,000 police personnel to maintain law and order situation in the federal capital.
“In August, we had been told that we would be back within a day or two. We could not carry clothes, sleeping suits, and other necessary items,” said a police constable who returned to Lahore a week ago.
The policemen while requesting anonymity further said that many policemen were hospitalised because of long duty hours and irregular food supply. Even the protesters are being provided best food comparatively, he added.
These policemen were called in the capital by the Interior Ministry in August to maintain peace amid protests. More than 10,000 cops are still staying in the capital to confront what Prime Minister told the joint session of the parliament that “5,000 people” could not force him to step down since he was elected by 18 crore people.
Out of total 14,000 police deployment no less than four thousand cops are lucky ones who are withdrawn from Islamabad for law and order duties in Punjab following devastating floods.
“Literally, we were being punished in the federal capital as we were not provided shelters, food, and water properly,” complained another police constable who is among 4,000 policemen withdrawn from the capital recently. Talking to this reporter on the condition of anonymity, the official said that the policemen were facing multiple problems because neither the department nor the government was interested in providing them any relief.
Among 14,000 cops there were also thousands of investigation police officials. To confront the protesters, the government picked up thousands of policemen from the Lahore Police Lines, Punjab Constabulary, and the district police.
The absence of police investigators caused delay in the prosecution of criminal cases, pending with the courts in the province. When the matter was brought into the notice of Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera, he immediately ordered the withdrawal of investigation officers.
Sources also revealed that the Punjab IGP received phone calls and text messages from a number of cops who complained him about their problems. Last week, the provincial police chief had to rush to the federal capital to put the house in order first.
Since the IGP interacted with the lower subordinates, he received numerous complaints from them. The policemen complained the chief that they were being provided only cooked rice thrice a day. The IGP stayed in the capital for a couple of days and held series of meetings with the Islamabad administration to fix the problems facing the cops.
A police officer revealed that the cops had threatened to go on strike if their demands were not met when the Punjab police chief rushed to the capital. “There was no proper food. We were sick of eating rice everyday,” the policeman said. Unlike many other countries, rice is not staple food in Pakistan. The sit-ins are costing the government in millions of rupees per day.  The authorities are unable to provide shelter, meal, and other facilities to the 10,000 cops.
A Punjab government official said that an amount of Rs 98 million had been released to the Punjab police as security expenditures in August to deal with the PAT and PTI’s marchers. It was also learnt that the police consumed Rs 10 million and the rest of the amount was surrendered to the finance department.
The cops sent to Islamabad are not given any extra benefits despite out station duties under tight atmosphere. “There are no extra benefits, no allowances for us. We are here to suffer more on personal expenditures,” a police official deployed in Islamabad told The Nation by phone.