Daily Times

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Aamir Zulfiqar Khan has ordered the regional police officers (RPOs) and district police officers (DPOs) to maintain high alert and speed up search-and-combing operations for improving security situation in the province.

Through a letter, he directed all the DPOs to expedite search-and-combing operations with the help of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Special Branch and monitor the activities of banned organisations and the persons included in the Fourth Schedule.

Aamir Zulfiqar directed the officials concerned that reports of search, sweep, combing and intelligence-based operations in each district should be sent to the Central Police Office (CPO) on daily basis. He said that the process of checking hotels, bus stands, inns and other sensitive areas including slums should be sped up and Hotel Eye should also be fully utilised in this regard.

The IGP stressed legal action over violation of tenancy registration. He said that special attention should be paid to security of sensitive religious places, churches and minority places of worship in all districts and supervisory officers should regularly inspect the security arrangements made for sensitive places.

The Punjab police chief said that combing-and-search operations should be intensified to bring terrorists, anti-social elements and their facilitators to justice.

Measures being implemented to improve police performance: Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Additional IG Ghulam Mehmood Dogar on Sunday

said that all resources were being used to protect the life and property of citizens as coordinated measures had been implemented to improve the police performance. Since the beginning of new year, action had been taken by intensifying the crackdown against criminals and law-breaking elements, he added. The Lahore police arrested a total of 1657 criminals and law-breaking elements in the first week of current year and registered cases in the respective police stations, he maintained.

The CCPO said that 254 accused and 97 accused of aerial firing were arrested during the grand operation against miscreants, rioters and those displaying weapons while cases were registered against them in the respective police stations.

Four kalashnikovs, 20 rifles, 16 guns, 213 pistols and revolvers and more than 1500 bullets were recovered from the possession of accused.Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said that during the crackdown against drug dealers last month, 259 accused were arrested and more than 97 kg of hashish, 150 grams of ice and 2259 liters alcohol were seized.

He said that during the action against gamblers, 62 accused were arrested while 20 cases were registered against them. More than Rs 495,000 were recovered from the accused.

In the first week of this year, the police arrested 227 proclaimed offenders involved in heinous crimes, out of which, 24 were of category A, 117 of category B, 86 targeted criminals and 110 judicial fugitives. About 62 suspects involved in the kite flying violation were arrested, while hundreds of kites, more than 100 string and other paraphernalia were recovered from them.

As many as 696 law-breaking elements were arrested under the national action plan. Under the Security of Vulnerable Establishment Ordinance 74 people were arrested; 254 arrested under the Arms Act; 252 arrested under the Tenancy Act; 115 for violating the Sound System Act, while an accused was arrested in hate material case.