Almost 4,000 police personnel in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have not returned to duty after their sanctioned leave expired, ThePrint reported on 17 October. A provincial police directive issued on Friday put the number at 3,986 and threatened disciplinary action against those who "had not resumed duty as required".
The figure comes from a Nawaiwaqt article that has since been deleted, and ThePrint notes that the directive does not say how long the personnel have been absent or whether they were contacted.
The absences follow the federal government's decision to impose emergency and governor's rule in the province on Sunday, which ThePrint says ends the rule of Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) there for now. President Asif Ali Zardari approved the measures on the recommendation of the federal cabinet, which met in emergency session under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The government cited Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.
Governor Faisal Karim Kundi is running the province with an 11-member technocratic advisory council. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and other provincial ministers and advisers have been told to vacate their offices. The federal government has also authorised the deployment of army troops and resources to assist civil authorities in maintaining law and order.
The Prime Minister's Office accused the provincial government of "deliberately disengaging from the fight against terrorism". The presidential declaration cited attacks on government installations, infrastructure and law-enforcement agencies.
The PTI disputes the move. Party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan went to the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday, asking it to declare the measures unconstitutional. The party had been organising a protest march, initially towards Islamabad, to demand access to the imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan and his release. The federal government has warned that it will not allow protesters into the capital.
