Daily Times

KARACHI: The Sindh Police has launched a WhatsApp helpline and Facebook page to address complaints of the residents of Karachi promptly and plans to form a new rapid Police patrolling squad comprising of 2000 police officials are also under consideration.

This was announced by Karachi Range Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) Dr Amir Ahmed Shaikh during his visit to Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) on Tuesday where he inaugurated the new building of SITE Self Security System (SSSS).

Shaikh informed the gathering that in addition to the traditional police helpline, a WhatsApp number (0343-5142770) and Facebook page by the name of ‘Karachi Police Office’ are being introduced to speedily address public complaints.

He said that the big crimes like terrorism and target killings have been almost curtailed in the city and efforts are now underway to reduce street crime. Shaikh said that most of street criminals are young people who develop addiction issues and later fall into the hands of criminal elements who provide them with arms and encourage them to loot the citizens.

Shaikh said that Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah has promised that he would allocate funds to make Karachi a safe city and develop an extensive CCTV Network all over Karachi for surveillance since it is not possible to deploy policeman at every nook and corner of city. “A Rapid Police Squad comprising of 2000 police personnel shall also be deployed to patrol all over Karachi,” he added.

While admitting that the Karachi Police has been facing lack of police personnel to cover the metropolitan city for effective policing, AIG Shaikh said that efforts are underway to increase police force. He added that the Sindh Police is also working on reforms to improve emergency response, investigation and forensic procedures.

He opined that healthy criticism on police is always welcome but they also deserve recognition and appreciation because they risk their lives for the safety of citizens. “From 2011 till date more than 546 police personnel have been martyred in the line of duty,” he said.

The industrialists have own surveillance system called SSSS at Pakistan’s largest designated industrial area SITE which contains approximately 2,400 factories. The SSSS was formed by Karachi industrialists without any help from the Sindh Government. The SSSS is being operated on personal contributions from the industries.

To maintain security in the area, SITE Association has provided and maintained 10 motorcycles to police force for patrolling purposes. Monitoring is done on 24/7 basis through 143 CCTV cameras installed at different locations and 28 pickets have been constructed. To further improve security, protective walls have been constructed at 31 locations.

Former SITE Association of Industry chairman Zubair Motiwala said that with industries’ participation, on self-initiative and personal contribution, the safety and security situation in the SITE area has improved. He added that the law and order situation of the city can also be improved if attention is accorded to it by the government. He remarked that the Sindh police would become more efficient if the government offers it better compensation packages, facilities and required infrastructure.

Published in Daily Times, September 5^th 2018.