903 FC men dismissed from service
By Said Nazir Afridi
BARA: The Frontier Constabulary (FC) dismissed as many as 903 personnel, who had conducted a successful operation in the Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar last week, for not fulfilling the order of their high-ups regarding their immediate return to FR Peshawar after they had been pulled out from the said area, reliable sources told The News on Saturday.
The sources said that a notification of dismissal was issued on Saturday evening by the FC commandant, asking the dissident cops to surrender their rifles to the concerned district FC officer.
Almost all the cops of FC handed over their arms to the FC district officer Peshawar and in charge of FR Peshawar operation Ali Sher Mehsud on Saturday night and left for their homes, the sources revealed.
The sources said 80 platoons of FC, along with the Frontier Corps and the Army, participated in the FR Peshawar operation from February 27 to March 2 and cleared Pastawani and Musa Darra, a stronghold of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant organisations.
At the end of the operation, Commandant FC Safwat Ghayur ordered pullout of 44 out of 80 platoons from Pastawani and Musa Darra and sent them back to their old positions, including 22 of them to Bara Fort in Peshawar, 12 to Hangu and 10 platoons to Meward Bara in Khyber Agency on March 2, the sources said and added 22 platoons gave their arrival report at the Bara Fort to Ali Sher Mahsud.
However, soon after their arrival, these 22 platoons were ordered by Ali Sher Mahsud to immediately go back to the cleared areas at 21:00pm on the same day, the sources revealed.
The leaders of said platoons refused to obey the order as they were tired and needed rest.
“We asked our commander that we should be replaced by fresh cops or we should be sent back to FR Peshawar in the morning as we were very much tired and wanted rest for the night,” one of the dismissed cops told The News on condition of anonymity. However, he said that Ali Sher Mahsud had been persistent on his stance and wanted to send back 22 platoons before the next morning.
“When we refused to obey his order, Ali Sher reported to the FC commandant terming our platoons rebels and disobedient,” he observed. He alleged that Ali Sher accompanied 22 platoons belonging to his own Mehsud tribe, and took them to FR Peshawar overnight and protected them from dismissal.
When Ali Sher Mehsud was contacted by this scribe, he expressed ignorance about it, saying he did not want any comment on the issue. The 22 FC platoons included four from Marwat tribe, four Afridi, three Mohmand and two from Wazir tribes.
Some of the dismissed cops on the condition not to be named termed their dismissal unjust, saying taking rest was their constitutional right and Commandant FC Safwat Ghayur was misled by Ali Sher Mehsud. They demanded of the government to restore their services as they were loyal to the country.
Source: The News
Date:3/7/2010
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