Daily Times

LAHORE: Investigations into several murder cases are still pending in the provincial metropolis due to shortage of officers in recently established Specialised Homicide Investigation Units (SHIUs).

According to an estimate, criminals involved in 45 murder cases during the last two are still untraced due to shortage of SHIU officers at different police stations across the city.

Police sources told Daily Times that posts of SHIU officers in over 15 police stations were still vacant, creating problems not only for the victims but also for police officers, who are overburdened in absence of the SHIU officers.

Those police stations facing shortage of SHIU officers include South Cantt, Millat Park, Samnabad, Muslim Town, Civil Lines, Raiwind City, Sundar, Manga Mandi, Misri Shah and Shadbagh, among others. Sources added that inquiry into several other cases was still pending due to shortage of SHIU officers, which had raised many eyebrows on police performance.

In 2015, the government established Specialized Homicide Investigation Units – comprising 478 officers – to expedite investigations into murder cases and dispense timely justice to the victims.

The SHIUs were launched with the partnership of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). In 2015, 1,253 murder cases were registered with these units in the province, and challans were submitted in 805 cases, while 50 cases were dismissed and 398 were under investigation.

During 2016, 2,740 murder cases have been registered till August 31. Challans were submitted in 1,160 of them, 78 were dismissed, 21 declared untraceable and 1,481 were under investigation.

In Lahore, 284 murder cases were registered in which challans were submitted in 65 cases, 12 were dismissed and 207 were still under investigation.