LAHORE: A few days after Prime Minister Imran Khan reprimanded the Punjab police for not seriously acting on references filed by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) against the developers of illegal housing schemes, the Punjab police on Monday said it has so far registered 856 first information reports against the land mafia across the province.
“In the last two days, police have, so far, registered 856 FIRs on the references of development authorities, including LDA, municipal corporations and other government agencies,” said Additional IG Operations Punjab Sahibzada Shahzada Sultan while briefing the senior police command during a meeting held at the Central Police Office (CPO) to review progress on its ongoing operation against developers of illegal housing scheme and references filed by the LDA and other government agencies in this regard.
The AIG told the meeting that FIRs have been registered on one reference of 2009, eight references of 2012, three references of 2013, two references of 2014, 28 references of 2015, 63 references of 2016 and 126 references of 2017. “Before processing the references, the coordination of all higher-ups of concerned government agencies was ensured,” he added.
Presiding over the meeting, Punjab IGP Inam Ghani directed the police officers to regularly take actions against the developers of illegal housing schemes and occupiers of the government land. In this regard, he also asked to submit weekly progress report to his office warning that no negligence would be tolerated.
“Legal actions should not be delayed on the references of the government agencies so that the process of accountability of law-breaking elements from society could be further expedited and where any police officer or official is found negligent in cooperation with the government agencies, there should be no delay in the proceedings against them,” he asserted. Later in the day, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar while speaking to the media said after its successful operation against the land grabbers, the Lahore police would now launch a massive crackdown against drug peddlers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021