LAHORE: Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar has said he will appreciate quality of the investigation of the case challans to be submitted to the courts, rather than their number. He said this while presiding over a meeting attended by all regional police officer (RPOs) on a six-point agenda, saying crime registration was his top priority. All the RPOs, heads of the district police and senior police officers from the Central Police Office (CPO) attended the meeting. The meeting agenda included arrest of proclaimed offenders (POs), courts absconders, hardened criminals, resolving cases of heinous crime, use of information technology and security measures for Chinese nationals.
A spokesperson for the Punjab police said Dr Usman warned of strict departmental action against the officers showing registration of less than 50 percent of the total complaints in their regions and districts. He said the crime burking was itself a crime, adding that such concealment would not be tolerated. He said unlike the past, he would encourage the officers who would appreciate maximum registration of the cases. He was briefed that the ratio of registration of cases in response to the calls made to 15 helpline had increased up to “70 percent” in most of the Punjab districts.
He declared it a good feedback of his policy of encouraging case registration. Meanwhile, the IGP also directed the police officers, specially the additional IG of investigation wing, to improve the investigation quality to ensure the criminals got maximum punishment from the court of law. The quality of investigation meant the police officers should ensure collection of flawless evidences, recovery of the looted items and completion of other legal requirements, he added. Dr Usman also directed all the RPOs, DPOs and other police officers concerned to intensify crackdown on drug dealers, especially suppliers of ‘ice’ (meth) to students, and other hardened criminals, besides POs, to bring the crime rate down.
He said the police must focus on preventing robbery, dacoity, kidnap for ransom, murder and other heinous crimes and launch a crackdown on criminals involved in such crimes. About the IT initiatives, he said the use of modern techniques was playing a decisive role in resolving criminal cases all over the modern world. The IT tools even helped prevent crime, he said and stressed the need to reform Punjab police by introducing the technology in different wings. At the end of the meeting, the Punjab police chief reviewed the security arrangements made by the Special Protection Unit (SPU) for the Chinese national working on various projects across the province. The security measures for the PSL matches in Lahore also came under discussion in the meeting.
(Daily Dawn)
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