Daily Times

Inspector General of Police Rao Sardar Ali Khan has said that co-operation of police, ANF and other law enforcement agencies is vital to eradicate the menace of drugs from society.

Therefore, he added, field commanders along with ANF should intensify intelligence-based operations against criminals implicated in smuggling.

He gave these instructions to officers while presiding over a high-level meeting of ANF Punjab at Central Police Office in Lahore on Monday.

IGP further directed to ensure provision of any kind of support including nuffree and resources to ANF teams for taking actions against drugs smugglers. Filed commanders have been directed to provide every possible assistance to arrest proclaimed offenders of ANF, whereas Elite force teams should also be provided for counter-narcotics operations during extremely high profile operations.

He said that intelligence-based operations should be continued on a daily basis in the vicinity of educational institutions and student hostels to avoid the exposure of young generation to fashionable drugs i.e ice.

He further added that special lectures by ANF specialists in the training colleges of Chung, Sihala and Multan training centres should be a part of training course, so that trainee officers and personnel could come to the field aware of ANF’s experience in countering narcotics.

It was further decided that Brigadier Rashid Minhas and DIG Operations Lahore Capt (retd) Sohail Chaudhry would jointly plan for the eradication of drugs in Lahore, and in the light of this planning, intelligence-based operations should be continued against drugs dealers and smugglers. In this regard, reports should be sent to the Central Police Office on a regular basis.

During meeting with a delegation led by Brigadier Rashid Minhas, it was decided to intensify joint police and ANF operations.

Brigadier Rashid Minhas, force commander ANF Punjab appreciated the cooperation of Punjab police in mutual operations against drugs smugglers and vowed that these operations shall be continued in future on a priority basis. He further said that the reasons for acquittal of the accused in drug cases would be shared with the Punjab police, so that the investigating officers could be assisted in preparing a strong challan.

IG Punjab further said that police teams are always engaged for the permanent eradication of drugs from society, and cooperation and coordination with the ANF would be further enhanced. On this occasion, Additional IG Operations Sahibzada Shehzad Sultan, Additional IG Investigation Fayyaz Ahmed Dev, Force Commander ANF Punjab Brigadier Rashid Minhas, Colonel Dilshad Hussain, Joint Director ANF Punjab, Major Waqar Director Operational Punjab, Dr Farah Ashraf Assistant Director Operational Punjab, Haroon Butt Assistant Director, DIG Investigation Lahore Sharaq Jamal Khan, DIG Operations Lahore Capt (retd) Sohail Chaudhry, DIG IT Waqas Nazir and other officers were also present.