In the wake of surging crime rate in the metropolis, the Punjab police have tasked all the divisional superintendents of police to identify and initiate strict departmental proceedings against those Station House Officers (SHOs) who have private gunmen.
The decision was taken during a meeting of all senior police officers of the Lahore police with IGP Arif Nawaz Khan in the chair at the Central Police Office (CPO) on Tuesday.
The meeting was held to review the steps taken to control surging crime rate in Lahore besides devising a coordinated strategy against the kite flying incidents.
"There should be no delay in taking legal and departmental actions against those SHOs who have private gunmen otherwise stern action will be taken against them besides respective SPs," the IGP stated.
Expressing displeasure over the death of a citizen in the Mughalpura police precincts due to metallic kite thread a day earlier, the IG ordered to start a grand operation against the manufactures and sellers of kites across the province.
He added that there should be no delay in taking action against those circle officers and SHOs who failed in implementing the kite flying laws in their respective areas.
The cops should be careful about the handling of citizens during the operation, he advised.
The IGP also directed CCPO Lahore B.A Nasir Khan to start a weekly awareness campaign and intelligence-based operations to control the crime rate. He further said that a special report containing information of dacoits and robbers, who were acquitted from courts during the last 10 months, should be prepared by pointing out the factors how they secured their releases from courts.
According to the IG, the special report must "clearly conclude" whether the investigation officers were unable to "properly present" their cases in courts or the identity parade was not done correctly. He also warned the circle officers, in-charge investigation and SHOs to get ready themselves for action if they failed to arrest proclaimed offenders (POs).
"Instead of relaxing at offices, the senior police officers especially CCPO B.A Nasir, DIG Operations Ashfaq Khan and the DIG Investigation should pass maximum time in fields to look after the officers deputed on patrolling," instructed the IG.
He added that patrolling plan and beat system of the Dolphin Squad should be reorganized so that its performance could be improved as first responders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019