‘300 SSU commandos to respond to Madadgar 15 calls’

Karachi
Over 300 highly-trained commandos of the Sindh police’s special security unit will be responding to emergencies and distress calls by citizens on Madadgar 15 in one of the three police zones in Karachi from August 14 this year.
“The Madadgar 15 is a unit commanded by the Karachi police and neither trained nor has the required resources to respond timely to emergencies and calls,” SSU chief SSP Maqsood Ahmed told The News in a recent interview.
“A highly-trained unit of SSU commandoes with special weapons and tactics will replace them in one of the Karachi police zones on August 14,” he added.
The new Madadgar 15 under the SSU supervision will be an advanced version of the existing one with an upgraded infrastructure, more resources and wider responsibilities. “Besides the provision of solution-oriented services to citizens, public satisfaction will be its prime consideration,” the SSP said.
Under the pilot project, around 300 men will be available round the clock in three shifts, backed by 20 bullet-proof vehicles and two armoured personnel carriers. The SSU commandos will reach the scene within five minutes of the call received by their control room.
“Being a collaborative service, the new police emergency unit will take on board all stakeholders from the public service departments including the fire brigade and welfare organisations including Amn Foundation, Edhi and Chippa welfare services,” the official said.
“All these departments and organisations will be linked with a single control room or helpline number for coordinated resource mobilisation and effective response.”
In addition to the SSU commandos deployed at the Madadgar 15, the quick response force will also be at the disposal of the emergency police service in case the need arises.
After the completion of the pilot project, the SSU plans to take over the entire Madadgar 15 network in the city and its men with 200 vehicles including APCs will be available in each district.
“We, the SSU, are part of the Sindh police, and in this way, are helping the Karachi police. The provincial government has provided us the required resources, we have hired highly-experienced trainers from the military and using high-tech to combat crime in the city,” the SSP said.
The official said during the training of commandos and after participating in various operations, especially in the ongoing crackdown against criminals in Karachi, the SSU had learnt a lot from its experiences.
He added that the SSU was also working on the establishment of at least 10 police facilitation centres in the city to provide diverse facilitative services and also help alleviate public dissatisfaction over police functioning.
“The services offered by the police facilitation centres will ensure solutions to various community problems under a single roof where public can have their issues resolved by dedicated staff in a professional manner without the need of visiting police stations,” he said.
The SSU chief further said guidance, facilitation and legal counselling would also be provided at the centres through representatives, legal experts and advisers. Another prospective project of SSU for the citizens of Karachi is the establishment of an institute of peace and policing studies.