The Karachi police chief, Additional IG Javed Alam Odho, on Friday held a meeting on recent police killings in the city. He also held a meeting with the traffic police chief to discuss the traffic issues in Karachi and other matters, including the expansion of roads and sergeants strength.
Officials said Additional IG Odho presided over the meeting on target killings of policemen at the Karachi Police Office (KPO). The meeting was attended by the Karachi Range DIGs of East, West and South districts, Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) DIG, district SSPs and other senior police officers.
The meeting reviewed the current law and order situation and discussed the reasons for high-profile cases, especially the killings of policemen in Karachi and the progress made in the investigation of such cases.
The Karachi police chief ordered a comprehensive strategy to curb crime in the city and issued directives to expedite police action against criminal elements on a priority basis. Earlier, Additional IG Odho visited the office of the Karachi traffic DIG where the latter received him. All the SPs and other senior officers of the traffic police were also present on the occasion.
Karachi Traffic DIG Ahmed Nawaz Cheema gave a briefing to the city police chief on the operations of the traffic police range, in which the traffic problems were identified. He said the traffic police were facing shortage of manpower as traffic issues were increasing day by day.
DIG Cheema said the traffic police were working with limited resources. He added that the traffic police personnel had 429 body-worn cameras installed on their shirts, which helped in the accountability process.
The Karachi additional IG was told that command and control cameras had been installed at various places, with the help of which traffic flow was being monitored. It was said that the implementation of the Safe City project was under way and cameras would be installed at various places to monitor traffic in Karachi. Traffic in the city was also being monitored through cameras in the monitoring room and Google Maps, the meeting was told.
The traffic police chief said action against double parking was under way. He added that in the recent heavy rains, people were helped through mobile workshops deployed on the roads. Action was being taken against extra-seat rickshaws and wrong way violations, DIG Cheema said, adding that driving on wrong way increased the risk of accidents and hampered the flow of traffic.
Additional IG Odho called for setting up new checkpoints for the traffic police as well as barricades at important places. He directed all the SPs to identify traffic congestion spots in their respective areas and take measures to resolve the issues.
He said road planning should be done in the future so that there was no problem in the flow of traffic. He also visited the IT office and appreciated the performance of the staff. He said the traffic police officers and officials should be respectful to the citizens.
Later, the city police chief attended a certificate distribution ceremony at the Police Training School Garden as the chief guest. He also visited the School of Investigation in Garden where the investigation DIG briefed him on the training session.
Additional IG Odho was informed that investigation officers of the Karachi police had been trained in laws for women protection, Anti-Rape (Investigation and Rape) Act 2021 and obtaining DNA evidence. Police Surgeon Dr Sumaiya Syed, Barrister Asher Masood and Psychologist Expert Sadia Durrani imparted training.
The Karachi police chief said he wanted capacity building of the investigation officers so that evidence could be better preserved. At the end of the ceremony, he handed over certificates to the investigation officers and faculty members who completed the training.