Police to start keeping digital records of criminals from June

Karachi
A bio-metric verification system will be introduced in all operational establishments of the Sindh Police by June for proper record-keeping of data and information of criminals, the Sindh chief secretary Muhammad Siddiq Memon was informed by DIG CIA Sultan Khawaja while presiding over a high-level meeting at his office on Wednesday.
The chief secretary was presiding over a meeting to review the installation of bio-metric verification systems at the Sindh Police establishments and to discuss the family tree of criminals working in offices of Karachi Police.
Other matters pertaining to the functioning of reverse osmosis plants and the Indus River System Commission were also discussed at the meeting.
DIG CIA Sultan Khawaja, local government secretary Imran Atta Soomro and irrigation secretary Zaheer Shah separately briefed the meeting about their respective assignments.
DIG Khawaja said that work on installation of the bio-metric system was under way in collaboration with the National Database and Registration Authority. He said after the system begins working at operational facilities of the Sindh Police, criminals will be documented with their finger prints, photographs, besides personal and crime histories at the Criminal Record Office (CRO) of the CIA.
He said the CRO was established in 1960 and was initially attached with the fingerprints branch of the Central Police Office. However, since July 2007, with the inception of police reforms, it has been functioning with the Sindh Police’s CIA and keeps a record of all criminal data, along with traffic and arms licenses.
The DIG said the biometric system would probably be launched in June 2015 and will be introduced and enforced throughout the province.
He said it would also take weapons dealers, police stations, hotels and guest houses and a few other places under its ambit, besides covering the entry and exit points of the province. The chief secretary assured the DIG that all possible assistance will be provided for successful installation of the bio-metric system at police establishments.
Speaking on other matters, he also expressed his concern over unavailability of water by the reverse osmosis plants installed in Keamari and Lyari areas a few years ago and asked for a report to be submitted within a week. The chief secretary also asked the finance department to facilitate the reverse osmosis plants scheme.
Secretary irrigation Zahoor Shah apprised the meeting of the various ongoing schemes of his department, including stone pitching and strengthening of the Moria Loop Band in northern Dadu division and the Larkana-Sehwan Bund. He assured that the department was making every arrangement it could to prepare for the upcoming monsoon.