The Sindh police chief on Monday ordered forming Patrol Police to secure the highways. He took the decision in a meeting he chaired at the Central Police Office.
IG Ghulam Nabi Memon said highways connect cities with one another, so modern cameras must be installed to eradicate crime and make the highways safe for travellers. The establishment DIG briefed the meeting on the aims and objectives of the proposed Patrol Police, the current status of checkpoints, the available personnel, and their limits and resources.
He said that in the first phase the motorways patrol police would be deployed at different locations on the M-9, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Northern Bypass, Indus, Lyari, National, M-5, Mehran, Thatta-Mithi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur-Jacobabad and Hyderabad-Badin highways.
The highway patrol unit will be led by a DIG, three SSPs and seven DSPs, along with a DIG and an SSP in Hyderabad, while an SSP in Karachi and one in Sukkur will also be deployed, he added.
IG Memon said that the primary objective of this project is to prevent crimes and root out those involved. He said that with the help of the cameras installed in cities, the highway patrol, including the police concerned, would be prepared to take action.
He also said a proposal for the patrol vehicles, manpower and other necessities required should be sent for review so that police checkpoints along highways in interior Sindh can be restored.
The aim of patrolling the highways is to make police response against crimes effective, to prevent the transfer of stolen vehicles, to tighten the noose on criminals, and to provide safe passage to travellers, he added.