Murree incident report: Several officers including Commissioner Rawalpindi suspended, also recommended disciplinary action
The Murree incident investigation team on Wednesday submitted a report to Punjab Chief Minister Usman Bazdar, in the light of which recommendations have been made to remove 15 officers from office and suspend them. Addressing a press conference, the Punjab Chief Minister said that Commissioner Rawalpindi has been removed from his post and handed over to the federal government and disciplinary action was also recommended against the remaining suspended officers for negligence.
It may be recalled that on the night of January 7 and 8, 22 people died in their vehicles due to a blizzard and rush in Murree, including eight members of the same family. Following the incident, the Punjab government had constituted an inquiry committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Home to probe the Murree tragedy.
According to the Chief Minister, a High Level Inquiry Committee was constituted to determine the causes and those responsible for the Murree tragedy.
According to him, the committee came to the conclusion that the concerned authorities had failed to realize their duties and 'risk'.
Which officers were suspended?
Chief Minister Usman Bazdar has said that disciplinary action has been ordered against the commissioner, deputy commissioner, CPO, CTO, DSP traffic and ASP Murree.وزیر اعلی پنجاب @UsmanAKBuzdar کی مری سانحے کی تحقیقاتی رپورٹ کے حوالے سے پریس کانفرنس pic.twitter.com/wuByWRm64t
— CM Punjab Updates (@CMPunjabPK) January 19, 2022
According to the Chief Minister, Assistant Commissioner Murree was also removed from his post while Divisional Forest Officer Murree, District Emergency Officer Murree, in-charge Murree Rescue 1122 and Director PDMA Punjab were suspended.
After the announcements against these officers, the Punjab Chief Minister said that he had promised the nation that action would be taken against those responsible and today "the nation has fulfilled its promise of a transparent inquiry into the Murree tragedy".
No action has yet been recommended against any NDMA official
It may be recalled that after the incident, the Islamabad High Court had ordered Prime Minister Imran Khan to convene a meeting of the National Disaster Management Commission within a week to address the issue of negligence in the killing of 22 tourists at Murree, a resort in Punjab. Identify individuals.
''The National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) is a policy-making body headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and is responsible for developing strategies for dealing with natural disasters.The National Disaster Management Authority, Pakistan's national disaster management body, operates under this body.''
''The court was told that only two meetings of the commission have been held since its formation, the first in 2013 and the second in 2018.''