The elements involved in spreading sectarianism are enemies of the nation and they deserve no mercy. Irrespective of their affiliation to any group and no matter how influential they are, such criminals must be brought to justice. The entire police force must pull up their socks and particularly the field officers will have to work on war-footing basis to eliminate the menace of sectarianism from the society.
This was stated by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Khan Baig while addressing the first RPO conference of 2014 at the central police office today. Additional-IG Punjab Sarmad Saeed Khan, Additional-IG Investigation Punjab Muhammad Amlish, CCPO Lahore Ch. Shafiq Ahmed, DIG (Operations) Punjab Farooq Mazhar, all the RPOs and DPOs and Acting-DIG (Operations) Lahore Rana Adul Jabbar, AIG (Operations) Waqas Nazir and PSO to IGP Muhammad Ali Nakokara attended the conference.
The meeting reviewed the anti-sectarianism campaign launched in 2013 in detail. The cases related to sectarianism including the arrests of accused persons, process of investigations, cases pending in the courts, the violations of loudspeaker, and provocative speeches, and banned speakers were also reviewed.
It was decided in the conference that strict action would be taken against the elements found involved distributing, printing, and spreading hatred-material. The clampdown on religious groups involved sectarian militancy will be intensified while separate staff would be deployed at police station level to monitor and investigate the cases related to sectarianism.
It was also decided that the Elite Police Force will be utilized to carry our Special Operations rather than deploying them on the security duty of VIPs. In this regard, the police will coordinate with the Special Branch, CTD, and other security agencies for intelligence sharing.
It was decided that a security plan prepared on the pattern of Muharram-ul-Haram will be implemented to provide security cover to Mahafil-e-Milad and processions on the eve of Eid Milad-un-Nabi (P.B.U.H). The police force will remain in contact with the Youth Force of Ahl-Sunnat to finalize security strategy for the participants and religious leaders.
The police will strictly monitor the activities of the persons put under the Forth Schedule and in case of any violation, the guarantors would be taken to task.
The meeting also decided to release the funds for the Model Police Stations. It was also decided that strict legal action would be taken against the policemen found involved in the incidents of death in custody. The police officers were also directed to check and discourage the practice of illegal detentions and take strict action against the officials found involved in implicating innocent persons in criminal cases.
The IGP set February 1st as the deadline to complete the history-sheets of Top-10 and Top-20 criminals. The police were also asked to step up crackdown against the proclaimed offenders.
Additional-IG (Investigation) Punjab Muhammad Amlish told the IGP that crackdown against the hardened criminals is underway across the province and the police smashed 19 gangs of criminals by arresting their 113 members during the last one week. The police also recovered looted valuables worth Rs10.587 million from their possession.
The officers were also asked to prepare the lists of pending Forensic Lab reports related to the murder cases. The field officers were also asked to strengthen the audit by personally monitoring their accounts to review the working of the Accountants.
Meanwhile, the police were asked to ensure foolproof security around the jewelry markets across the province to avoid major robberies by checking the CCTV cameras on daily basis and keeping close liaison with the business community.
(Handout No. 01)
Source: Director Public Relations, Punjab Police.
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