Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the provincial police to eliminate dacoits in the riverine area, street criminals in Karachi, and the drug mafia throughout the province.
He issued these directions on Wednesday while addressing the 117th passing-out parade ceremony at the Shahid Hayat Police Training College, Saeedabad.
Officials said that after the parade, the CM addressed the event and said that he had given three tasks to the police, which included elimination of dacoits from the Katcha area, bringing street crime in Karachi to zero level, and crushing the drug mafia to protect our children from the menace of narcotics.
“It is our responsibility to protect the life, property and freedom of movement of the people of the province, therefore we have to eliminate the menaces,” Shah asserted.
Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon, DIG Training Hamid Khoso, Principal of the college Bashir Chachar and other police high-ups were also present on the occasion.
The CM said that the passing out of 787 constables would be a good addition to the numerical strength of the police force. “I have strengthened the provincial police by offering them good salary packages, Shuhada compensation along with one job, continuation of their salaries till their superannuation, latest equipment, and even mess allowance to the under-training policemen.”
He added that as his government had through such polices enhanced the morale of the police, the police needed to undertake the three most important tasks.
Explaining the first task, Shah said that dacoits operating in the Katcha area of the province had been kidnapping people, including children, for ransom and needed to be eradicated.
“This is quite painful that the dacoits kidnap peaceful people, including their children, for ransom,” he said and told the police to consider such dacoits terrorists who must be crushed so that nobody again could dare to form such gangs again.
Regarding the second task that was eradication of the street crime, the CM said that one of the factors behind the increase in street crime was the 'economic situation’ of the country but such crimes could not be justified under that pretext.
Shah added that street crime in the city had become a challenge for the Karachi police and street criminals had affected the free movement of families in the city. “I want the police to eliminate the street criminals and restore the confidence of the people of the city.”
The third task which the CM assigned the police was elimination of the drug. “I know a targeted operation against the drug mafia is in progress but even then, the desirable results have yet to come out,” he remarked and added that synthetic drugs had reached our educational institutions and were destroying our young generation.
He directed the police to speed up operations against the drug mafia because they were also involved in street crime.
The CM also lauded the services and bravery of the Sindh police saying that their 2,400 jawans had laid their lives in the line of duty fighting against terrorists, target killers, street criminals and drug mafia, and protecting polio teams.
“I believe in you and I am sure you are capable enough to eliminate these three threats,” Shah told the police.
He also recalled the sacrifices of personnel of the Rangers, Pakistan Army and other law enforcement agencies for restoring peace in Karachi and other parts of the province.
Earlier, the CM inspected the parade and distributed prices among the position holders of training programmes. The IGP briefed the CM about different categories of training programmes such as commando, riot handling, thwarting dacoity attempts and conducting raids.
Speaking on the occasion, IGP Memon said that in the past, policemen under training were required to bear the expenses of the mess facility at training centres. “The chief minister during his visit to the police training institute, Shahdadpur, last year announced a separate budget for the mess of under-training policemen,” he recalled and said that in the current budget, the Sindh government had allocated Rs360 million for the messes of training institutes.
The passing-out policemen showed their policing skills to the CM and won his applause. The parade was attended by a large number of police officers, family members of under-training constables, members of civil society and people of the area.