LAHORE: Two assistant sub-inspectors have died after collapsing during a training race at the Elite Police Training Centre on Bedian Road, with police sources attributing both deaths to severe heat and humidity.
The two officials fell ill while running a four-kilometre course during a morning session on Thursday. ASI Syed Tasawar Shah collapsed at the training ground and was shifted for medical treatment, where he was pronounced dead. ASI Muhammad Arshad, son of Muhammad Shafi, was taken to hospital in a critical condition and placed on a ventilator, but did not survive.
Tasawar Shah was from Jhelum and had been serving with the Rawalpindi patrolling police. Arshad belonged to the Sargodha region.
At least two other officials were also taken to hospital after their condition deteriorated during the same session. Their status has not been detailed by police sources.
Police said the bodies of both officials were handed over to their families after the completion of legal formalities. Arshad’s body was moved to the morgue before release.
Police sources said 260 promoted officials had arrived at the Elite Training Centre this week for the mandatory orientation course for ASIs recruited through the P-cadre.
A report has been sought from the Additional IG Elite on the deaths and on the condition of the officials who remain under treatment.
According to officials, ASIs who did not clear the Elite orientation course will report again from Monday. Promotion to the next rank requires successful completion of the orientation course under the applicable rules.
IG Punjab Rao Abdul Kareem has directed that officers already in service will attend classroom instruction only, and that physical drills will not form part of their course.
The distinction is consequential. Officers promoted into the ASI rank from existing service arrive at training courses at a range of ages and fitness levels that differs markedly from that of directly recruited entrants. A physical regime calibrated for young recruits may impose loads that serving officers in their thirties, forties and beyond are not conditioned to sustain, particularly where cardiovascular screening has not been carried out beforehand and where the activity is conducted in high heat and humidity.
The training process and safety arrangements at the centre are also under review by the relevant authorities.
Exertional collapse during physical training is a recognised hazard in police, military and emergency service training environments internationally. Contributing factors typically include undiagnosed cardiovascular conditions, dehydration, high ambient temperature and humidity, and intensity progression that does not account for the baseline fitness of participants.
Humidity is a particular aggravating factor. Sweat evaporates poorly in humid air, which blunts the body’s main cooling mechanism and allows core temperature to climb during sustained exertion even where the air temperature alone would not be considered extreme. Timed distance runs are among the highest-risk activities in such conditions because participants pace themselves against a standard rather than against their own tolerance.
Standard mitigations in professionally administered programmes include mandatory medical screening before enrolment, graduated intensity progression across the course, enforced hydration protocols, adjustment or suspension of outdoor activity when the heat index crosses defined thresholds, and the presence of trained medical personnel with resuscitation equipment at the training site.
In cases of collapse during exertion, the interval between the event and the start of advanced resuscitation is the principal determinant of survival. Where officials are first taken to a dispensary and then transferred onward by ambulance, definitive care is reached only after two transfers.
The Punjab Elite Police Force is a specialised wing established for counter-terrorism, high-risk operations and VIP protection duties, with its own training establishment maintaining physical and tactical standards above those of the general police cadre.
The requirement that promoted officers complete an orientation course at the Elite Training Centre forms part of the structured career progression framework within the Punjab Police, under which advancement to higher ranks is conditional on completion of prescribed training.
The report sought from the Additional IG Elite is expected to address both the immediate circumstances of the collapses and the adequacy of medical screening, heat management and on-site emergency arrangements at the centre.
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