LAHORE: The Punjab government has appointed BS-19 police officer Amara Athar as the chief traffic officer (CTO) of Lahore, making her the first woman police officer holding the key traffic control assignment in the provincial capital.

She is also the fourth woman police officer posted in Lahore, showing the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar’s policy of prioritising female officers for the field assignments in a bid to change the decades-old tradition of ‘male dominant’ policing in the province.

Ms Athar replaced retired Capt Mustansar Feroz, who had been holding the the Lahore CTO post for the last one year or so.

An official says there were many male contenders for the top slot of the Lahore traffic police, but the IGP preferred a woman officer, apparently due to the outstanding performance of another female officer, Aysha Butt, who was posted as Gujranwala CTO.

He says Ms Butt got two appreciation letters from the provincial police officer for bringing reforms in theGujranwala traffic police in a short span after her posting.

She established the country’s first traffic theme park at Gujranwala, with a long walk track where traffic signs are installed on both sides to create public awareness about traffic rules.

Appreciating the initiative in Gujranwala, the Sindh Police had requested the Punjab Police to share the scheme with it, the official says, adding that the IG also gave a cash award to Ms Butt and her team for rendering outstanding services.

He says the performance of Lahore Investigation SSP Dr Anoosh Masood Chaudhry with regard to the May 9 cases and the way she collected evidences and got the challans submitted, was another reason that encouraged the Punjab police chief to post a woman officer as Lahore CTO.

Being Investigation SSP, Ms Chaudhry has also resolved many high-profile cases, including those of murder and robbery.