Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed the Senior Minister of his cabinet Syed Murad Ali Shah to contact ministry of interior to get the bomb disposal equipments and the vehicles donated by the US and UK to Sindh police but Centre had not handed them over so far.
He was surprised to know the latest position of said equipments and vehicles when he asked the Additional IG Special Branch about the usage of bomb disposal equipments and vehicles that United States and United Kingdom donated to Sindh police. The AIG AD Khwaja told him that those vehicles and equipment were taken over by Federal Ministry of Interior
This came to Shah's knowledge at a high-level meeting held at his CM House on Friday. He presided over the meeting to discuss revamping and strengthening Special Branch and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). Provincial ministers: Nisar Khuhro, Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sohail Siyal and Murtaza Wahab, IG Sindh Police Ghulam Hyder Jamali, Home Secretary Jamal Mustafa Shah, Secretary Finance Sohail Rajput and other relevant officials attended.
The Chief Minister said that the country was in a state of war since fighting against terrorism continued with national unity and valor. He said that performance of police department, specially the special branch and counter terrorism department was worth mentioning, therefore their revamping was need of hour to make them more effective and strong.
Additional IG Special Branch A D Khwaja said that the functions of Special Branch include intelligence, surveillance, security, verification of government officials, security companies, pre-visa verifications of Indian, airport entry passes, security audit, foreigners registration and technical assistance and bomb disposal. He said that presently, manual system of reporting exists in the branch, there is absence of central data bank, poorly maintained manual record keeping, large inventory of dysfunctional security equipment, ineffective canine unit, lack of specialised intelligence training facilities and depleted office infrastructure/equipments.
The Additional IG said major areas of revamping plan included: automation of foreigners' registration section, up-gradation of bomb disposal unit and Canine unit, establishment of intelligence school and improvement of infrastructure. AD Khwaja said that under his proposed automation plan, there would be a centralised data base at HQ and all field units to be connected with it and there would be online sharing of information, reporting and digital archiving of data.
To a query of the chief minister, Mr Khwaja said that 40 data entry operators were required to run the proposed network with one network engineer/administrator. He said that the positions were vacant in special branch but the nomenclatures of the positions/posts are to be changed," he said. The chief minister approved his proposal. He also said that revamping of Foreigners Registration Section (FRS) and automation of registration process are need of the hour. All the district offices are to be connected with the headquarters.
On this the chief minister said that he has already directed the IGP Sindh to provide Rs 10 million to Special Branch for the purpose. Briefing the meeting on Bomb Disposal Unit, AD Khwaja said that its main job was to identify, detect, diffuse and safely dispose of explosives.
This unit also conducts technical sweeping and gives expert report about bomb blasts and seized explosives. Therefore, purchase new state of the art equipments, provision of additional equipments to the unit at Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana and up-gradation of the bomb disposal unit's store and creation of post blast investigation unit were needed.
He said that Rs 20 million were required for the Bomb Disposal Unit's revamping. The chief minister directed the home department to move a summary for re-appropriation of funds so that BDU could be revamped on the latest pattern. "Canine unit, assists bomb disposal teams, sweeping/searching of places of visit of VVIPs/VIPs and events of national importance. This was established in 2010 with 14 dogs but presently only 6 dogs are available which are not enough," he said adding that 20 additional dogs were required.
A D Khwaja said that the dogs would be purchased from Pakistan Army Dog Centre. For the purpose trained staff was required. He said training facility and breeding centre for the police department need to be established. The chief minister approved the project and directed the IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali to establish Canine Unit at every divisional headquarter. He asked him to move a summary he would provide necessary staff and funds.
The Additional IG also proposed to establish a School of Intelligence. He said that the school would be of great importance for training modules on intelligence gathering and covert operations will be imparted on the basis of modern techniques. Shah approved the project saying to be included in the next budget. He urged that close co-ordination with Army Intelligence facilities and training academy of Intelligence Bureau be established.
Additional IG Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Dr Sanaullah Abbasi briefed the meeting about mandate of his department that included to collect intelligence about terrorism/sectarian activists and such other people/organisations and extend technical support for special operations and investigations, conduct research and analysis of the terrorism trends and so on and prosecute terrorism case. He said that cases of bomb blasts, terrorist shootings, suicide bombing, target killings connected with terrorism, tracing of terrorism financing and action against criminal networks of terrorist organisations for kidnapping for ransom, extortion and sabotages are also part of their mandate.
Dr Sanaullah Abbasi presented Rs 1.88 billion revamping plan saying that CTD would be made more effective organisation if it was allowed to create dedicated counter-terrorism force of 1000 personnel. He also proposed to purchase latest equipments such as GSM locators, armoured troops carrier, ballistic sheets, and bullet proof vests. Periodic training and capacity building, giving the cops cash award for extra-ordinary performances and such other things were among his proposals. On this the chief minister directed him to move a summary for formal approval, otherwise revamping of CTD is approved.
Comments
Comments are closed.