LAHORE – The police department has been flouting the Punjab Police Inspector General Habibur Rehman’s directives to maintain a 38-inch waistline for the Station House Officers (SHOs) -  a blot 0n the face of Punjab police.
The provincial police have never conducted physical fitness test of any officer, which is an integral part of promotions in the force. The IGP has advised the bulky officers lose weight.
This “bulky culture” in police force is never seen, but rather discouraged in China, UK, USA, Germany, Japan, and other developed countries. The aforementioned countries undertake regular physical fitness test of their forces, which have to face pay cut and forfeitures of services on failure.
Similarly, for the first time in history, the Commander of Punjab Police (almost equal to two Corps of Armed Forces) Habibur Rehman, has announced that no police inspector would be posted as an SHO until and unless he/she reduces their weight to achieve a waist measurement less than 38. The close aide to the IG Punjab has told this scribe that the top cop is opposed to the retention of the extra rotund policemen and he may make such announcement for SP to Additional IG.
However, a senior police officer termed IGP Habibur Rehman, Addl IG (Welfare and Training) Sarmad Saeed Khan, Addl IG Punjab and Lahore CCPO Aslam Tareen, Multan CPO DIG Aamir Zulfiqar Khan, SSP Captain Ahmed Mobin, SP Liaqat Ali Malik, DSP Raza Safdar Kazmi and SHO Abid Rasheed as “physically fit” police officers.
Similarly, those who have maintained themselves positively and have ideal physical appearance from the PSP Cadre include: SSP Shahzada Sultan, SSP Rana Ayaz Saleem, SSP Shariq Kamal Siddique, SSP Shaukat Abbas, SSP Tariq Chauhan, SSP Rao Munir, SSP Dr Shahzad Asif, SSP Babar Bakht Qureshi, SSP Captain Sajjad Manj, SSP Faisal Rana, SSP Sarfaraz Ahmed Falki, SP CIA Captain Dr Liaqat Ali Malik, SP Omer Saeed Malik, SP Rana Mansoor, SP Shoaib Khuram Janbaz, SP Ameen Bokhari, SP Anwar Khitran, SP Hassan Sukhera, SP Hashmat Kamal, SP Malik Awais, SP Maruf Wahla, SP Muntazir Mehdi and few others.
Former Commandant Training Center Sindh Col Mirza Jehangir told TheNation that a comprehensive medical test was undertaken in the armed forces at the end of each year. He said those who failed were not promoted to the next rank which was the reason most Lieutenant Cols were retired by the age of 47 or 48. “Only physically fit officers are given active appointment in the armed forces, thus Punjab Police officers should also undertake annual physical fitness tests and they may face a pay cut if they fail repeatedly,” Mirza maintained.
A body building student Aseem Hassan, whose entire family is serving in the Army, says only one glass of milk and a banana is provided to each trainee officer in early morning and evening, in warm places like Karachi. He said in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhaw, the bulky officers are wrapped up in warm blankets and are rolled on the ground in order to lose weight.
On the other side, the horizontally challenged police officers especially DSPs and SHOs have been successfully scared by the announcements and started fitness training. An SHO, requesting not to be named, says some of his colleagues have purchased warm blankets, joined body building centres, and even have started dieting to lose weight.

Bulky cops

.SSP Suhail Akhtar Sukhera
.SSP Dr Haider Ashraf
.SP Omer Virk (OSD)
.City Division SP (Investigation
   Wing) Rana Shujaat
.SP Mustafa Hameed
.Mughalpura DSP Naeem
   Qureshi
.DSP Chaudhary Ishtiaq
.DSP Riaz Shah (suspended)
.Rang Mahel SHO Sheikh Adnan
.Chungh SHO Tariq Bashir
   Cheema
.SHO Bashir Subhani
.Gujjarpura SHO Shahid
.Lytton Road SHO Atif Zulfiqar
.Old Anarkali SHO Shahid
.Ghalib Market SHO Sheikh
   Aamir Saleem