LAHORE - Police yesterday launched a massive security sweep throughout the province with round-the-clock snap checking at the border checkpoints in Punjab.
The move comes as the provincial police revised the security plan in the wake of deadly bombing on Lahore’s The Mall. Fifteen people including seven police officers died and over 100 others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated his jacket during a protest rally.
A police spokesman last night said that field officers were carrying out security checks on travellers at the border posts as police launched search operations in the urban parts.
Punjab inspector general of police Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera yesterday directed his force to thoroughly check all vehicles, motorcycles, and persons crossing the inter-provincial check-posts. The IGP also directed the police to take prompt action against the suspected persons. The police were directed to detain suspected persons and those who would fail to prove their identities.
The police chief issued the new directions while chairing a high-level meeting held at the central police Office yesterday. Additional-IGP Arif Nawaz, Amjad Javed Saleemi, Shoaib Dastgir, Punjab DIG (Operations) Aamir Zulfiqar Khan, DIG Shahid Hanif, AIG Kamran Khan, AIG Waqar Abbasi, AIG Humayun Bashir Tarar, Ghaffar Qaisrani, and Syed Khurram Ali were also present in the meeting.
The policemen deployed on border posts should be given daily briefings regarding the search of vehicles, luggage and the passengers, the IGP said. The police officials working on check posts of Attock, Mianwali, Bhakar and Rawalpindi districts were asked to remain on high alert.
The provincial police chief warned that “even a little negligence can cause huge disaster” and that is why the field officers should carefully check all vehicles, motorcycles, and persons passing through these check-posts. Women wearing burqa should be checked with utmost care and their feet should be first looked at as the shoes can reveal their gender identity.
On this occasion, the IGP was also given briefing about the electronic police complaint system. Sukhera directed the AIG complaints that strict action should be taken against the DSPs and SHOs who do not contact the complainants in time in response to the complaints registered with SMS service 8787 at the central complaint center. Action should also be taken against the officers who, instead of personally contacting the complainant, ask their assistants or readers to respond.
The IGP further said that the progress on complaints received through 8787 should be monitored on daily basis and a weekly performance report should be submitted to the central police office.
Additional-IGP Amjad Javed Saleemi informed the meeting that at least 31 stolen vehicles and motorcycles were recovered during checking on inter-provincial check posts during the last couple of months.
One most-wanted criminal was also arrested from the Mianwali check post. He further claimed that all inter-provincial check posts were being monitored online from the central police office where the performance of officials and their behavior with public is particularly being monitored.
Meanwhile, the IGP directed AIG (Monitoring) to personally take daily report regarding performance of personnel deployed on these check-posts and submit fortnightly report to his office regularly. Officials with excellent performance should be encouraged at every level, the IGP said.
(The Nation)
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