LAHORE: Following the directions of Inspector General of Police Punjab Dr Syed Kalim Imam, pre-election training of Police force has started in all districts of province on Saturday. According to details, in this seven-day special training session, skills like protection of Ballot Boxes and Returning Officers/VIPs, First Aid, Fire Fighting, Command Skills, Unarmed Combat, emergency situation handling and coordination with other law enforcement agencies according to modern parametres will be imparted to police officials. This training is aimed to build capacity of the police officials to counter emergency situation and any untoward incident on Election Day. Seven day training has been divided into two sessions of three days each and according to schedule, the pre-election training will be held in Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad and Gujranwala from July 1-7, followed by second phase training sessions from July 9-15 in Lahore, Sheikhupura, Sahiwal, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur. The teams of trainers from Elite Training School Lahore have been formed to meet the schedule of trainings. In all district police lines, a special seven-day training will be held under the supervision of skillful instructors from District Elite Groups and Special Elite Groups. All district police officers have been directed to complete all preparation regarding effective conduct of training so that no gap or difficulty should be faced during election. Additional IGP Elite Force Shahid Hanif will look over all phases of training and ensure its completion by July 15. IG Punjab while directing officers said that conduct of transparent and impartial election is preference of Punjab police and so the police department is committed to utilise all available resources. “We are also striving to build the capacity of police force to meet contemporary policing challenges,” he further added. He also said that all personnels deputed on election duty will benefit from this compact training and will be able to perform election duties at their full potential. IG Punjab laid emphasis to ensure full attendance of all officials in these training at any cost and to contact Central Police Office for any kind of assistance or support. Published in Daily Times, July 1st 2018.