April 18, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
On February 27, 2026, the Inspector General of Police Punjab issued an order that ended the career of a serving Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)
Mian Hassan Aziz, C/1294, was dismissed from service after being found guilty of sexually exploiting a 27-year-old woman — referred to in this report as S.G* to protect her identity — who had come to him as a complainant seeking justice in multiple criminal cases, including one involving rape.
The dismissal order, a copy of which is available with Voicepk, followed three separate departmental inquiries spanning nearly three years, a De-Novo (fresh) inquiry ordered personally by the Inspector General of Police Punjab, and persistent attempts by the accused officer to delay and derail proceedings. The findings of the final inquiry recommended not only dismissal, but also the possibility of criminal prosecution under Section 376(4) of the Pakistan Penal Code — a provision that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment for a police officer who commits rape while employing his official position.
DSP used his position to allure a vulnerable woman
S.G.’s ordeal began long before she ever encountered DSP Hassan Aziz. Between June 2021 and February 2023, she was the complainant in at least five criminal cases registered at different police stations across District Lahore. The cases ranged from rape and sexual assault to harassment and cybercrime — a succession of violations that had already left her deeply vulnerable by the time her path crossed with the DSP.
At the time, Hassan Aziz was posted as DSP/SDPO of the Barki Circle in Lahore. As an officer of his rank, he held supervisory authority over the police stations where S.G.’s cases were being investigated. She appeared before him in connection with these investigations. It was in this setting — one defined entirely by her dependence on his official authority — that the exploitation began.
According to the findings of the De-Novo inquiry conducted by Additional IGP (Investigation) Punjab, Muhammad Idrees Ahmed, the DSP used his office and position to “allure” S.G. and establish what the inquiry describes as “inappropriate relations” with her. He exploited what the inquiry officer called her “vulnerability” — a woman who had already survived rape, was navigating multiple criminal cases simultaneously, and was emotionally distressed.
The inquiry establishes that physical relations between the DSP and S.G. occurred on “at least 15 occasions” at an apartment in Barkat Market, Garden Town, Lahore — a flat belonging to one Sheraz Ahmad Khan, described in the inquiry as a person who “employed his apartment for private moments enjoyment” and has been named as an abettor.
The inquiry officer’s language is unambiguous: “The charges go miles beyond the misconduct, rather fall within the ambit of 376(4) PPC warranting capital punishment for a police officer who would commit rape while employing his official position.”
A quick exoneration in first inquiry
On April 2, 2023, S.G. lodged an online complaint — No. 4007909 — at the IGP Punjab’s 1787 complaint cell. In it, she accused DSP Hassan Aziz of humiliation, allurement, establishing inappropriate relations, torture and threats, and of making nude videos of her in connivance with one Muhammad Farooq, against whom she had herself registered a rape case at PS Factory Area, Lahore.
The complaint was initially entrusted to Mr. Usman Tipu, the then SP/Iqbal Town Division, for a preliminary inquiry. His findings — issued vide order No. 819/DIG-OPS dated April 3, 2023 — exonerated the DSP entirely. The clean chit was swift, and it did not hold.
Unsatisfied with this outcome, the DIG Operations marked the matter to Mr. Muhammad Sohaib Ashraf, the then SSP/Operations Lahore, who conducted a fresh fact-finding inquiry. His findings, issued in April 2023, were categorical. DSP Hassan Aziz was guilty “to the extent of using his office and position for alluring and establishing relations” with S.G. Ashraf recommended that the case be sent to the competent authority for initiation of departmental action.
Second inquiry finds DSP guilty, recommends minor punishment
Following the SSP’s findings, a formal departmental inquiry was initiated. The IGP Punjab appointed Syed Muhammad Amin Bukhari, DIG/IAB, CPO Punjab, as Enquiry Officer vide office order No. 4210/DISC-II dated July 12, 2023.
Bukhari’s inquiry concluded that DSP Hassan Aziz was indeed guilty — specifically of developing inappropriate relations with S.G. while taking benefit from his official position. The findings were damning in their substance. Yet his recommendation on punishment was strikingly light – a minor penalty.
The competent authority — the IGP Punjab — was not satisfied. The gravity of the charges, particularly the potenial application of Section 376(4) PPC, warranted far more than a minor departmental sanction. The IGP ordered a De-Novo inquiry from scratch.
Two years of De-Novo inquiry
The De-Novo inquiry was formally ordered on March 29, 2024 and entrusted to Additional IGP (Investigation) Punjab, Muhammad Idrees Ahmed, with DSP Legal Lahore, Miss Amber Khan, appointed as Departmental Representative.
A charge sheet was issued to the accused officer on May 3, 2024. He was given seven days to respond — and failed to do so. Instead, the accused sent a WhatsApp message to the Departmental Representative requesting an extension.
This was a pattern. Throughout the inquiry, DSP Hassan Aziz — by this point placed under suspension — sought to delay and obstruct. Sources familiar with the proceedings indicate that he also moved a petition before the Lahore High Court in an attempt to stay the departmental proceedings. However, the DSP later withdrew his peitition, hoping for a favourbale outcome of the inquiry.
The De-Novo inquiry examined S.G.’s complaint in full, recorded the statements of witnesses, and scrutinized the role of multiple individuals connected to the case. Among those examined were SI Ali Sher, the then SHO Manawan — who was found to have also attempted to contact S.G. with what the inquiry describes as “evil eye” and was initially dismissed from service, though his punishment was later reduced. One Safdar Ali, described as a counsellor who had conducted sessions with S.G., was found to have facilitated negotiations between the parties. Another figure, Sheraz Akbar, was identified as the financier behind a compromise offer.
The Rs. 2.5 million compromise bid
Central to the De-Novo inquiry’s findings is an attempt to settle the matter through a financial compromise. The inquiry reveals that a deal of Rs. 2.5 million was arranged, with Sheraz Akbar identified as the financier who put up the money. Safdar Ali, S.G.’s counselor, was reportedly owed Rs. 56,000 by her for counseling sessions and facilitation, and appeared to have stood to receive Rs. 500,000 from the settlement as his share.
S.G. received Rs. 100,000 from Sheraz Akbar — ostensibly for Safdar Ali’s time and sessions. But the compromise was ultimately blocked. The IGP Punjab declined to accept any settlement unless S.G. personally recorded a video message consenting to it — a condition that effectively halted the deal.
The inquiry officer’s assessment of this episode pointed out that those who facilitated the compromise were motivated by financial and professional interests tied to the police department, while DSP Hassan Aziz’s repeated denials throughout the inquiry proceedings reflected what the inquiry calls “an obvious continued urge to deny.”
Inquiry recommends protection for victim
The De-Novo inquiry does not offer S.G. an entirely uncomplicated portrayal. The inquiry officer notes that she “initially used the situation to her advantage and later for blackmail, as seen in the cases of Zahid, Farooq, and Saifullah.” It acknowledges that she possessed videos of DSP Hassan but never presented them — not even during FIA inquiry proceedings in her case under PECA 2016.
Yet the inquiry is equally clear that this does not diminish the core culpability of the DSP. “Despite personal motives,” the inquiry states, “S.G’s claims warrant serious consideration, particularly given her emotional attachment to DSP Hassan and her expressed suicidal thoughts to independent witness Safdar Ali.”
The inquiry recommends that S.G. be provided protection against threats from DSP Hassan or potential self-harm, and that she be given access to psychological counseling.
‘Intimidation faced throughout the process’ : Rape survivor’s counsel
Ali Changezi Sandhu, the legal counsel representing S.G., told Voicepk that his client faced intimidation and threats from the accused officer across multiple stages of the inquiry process.
“Her client faced intimidation and threats from the said police official during the several inquiries,” Sandhu said, adding that S.G. would be moving a private complaint against Mian Hassan Aziz to stop what he described as “continual harassment and intimidation as well as threats to her life.”
The February 27, 2026 dismissal order, issued under Rule 11 of the Punjab Civil Servants Rules 1999 — which provides for dismissal in cases of moral turpitude — brings the departmental chapter to a close. The IGP’s punishment matrix sheet is referenced in the inquiry recommendation as supporting the dismissal.
But the inquiry officer’s recommendation goes further. It calls for the IGP to extend an opportunity to S.G. to lodge a criminal complaint against the dismissed officer under Section 376(4) PPC, and for abetment charges to be added against Sheraz Ahmad Khan, the owner of the apartment where the meetings took place. It also recommends a bar on field posting for SI Ali Sher, the former SHO Manawan, and a broader policy review on whistleblowing protections for subordinate police officers.
For S.G. the dismissal represents a measure of institutional accountability that her counsel says was long overdue. Whether the criminal justice system will now take up where the departmental process has ended remains to be seen.