conducted 15,685 combing search operations in 23,204 localities and questioned over 362,884 persons.
About change in thana culture, IG said they had been focusing on elimination of four menaces from the police that include indifferent/rude behaviour, non-registration of cases, faulty investigations and corruption. He said the Punjab government was committed to bring reforms in the police culture through a phased programme. In the first phase, Sukhera said police had set up 10 Computerised Complaint Handling Centres (CCHCs) in Lahore as a pilot project to ensure comfortable environment/behaviour with the complainants and timely registration of FIRs. Once this project proved successful, it would be replicated in 700 police stations of the province within a year. IG Punjab went on to say that the remaining two problems of Police Department would be solved through highly trained 1,000 investigators and advance payment of investigation expenses on heinous crimes, including murders and kidnapping for ransom. A number of police officers have got training to deal with the cases of homicide at Punjab Forensic Science Agency for the purpose, IG told.
Talking about the poor infrastructure of police stations, he said more than 80 percent of the development budget in the upcoming fiscal year would be specified for the improvement of the police station buildings instead of residences etc.
To a query about the welfare of the cops’ families, Sukhera said through new rules, the payment of funds for the incompetent children of officers had been stopped. He added the cops’ children, who would secure 65 percent marks, would be eligible for scholarships irrespective of ranks. The same rules would be applied at district level by making the welfare funds distribution centralised in the next phase, he maintained.
Giving answers to the questions related to high profile cases, including Model Town tragedy, Kot Radha Kishan incident and Yuhannabad, Sukhera claimed the cases would be taken to a logical end, saying that there was a substantial progress in the investigations of the said cases.
Admitting the poor response of police against emergencies, IG said Rescue 15 was being thoroughly overhauled and an officer of an SP rank would be made incharge of the helpline to ensure timely action. ‘Police officers and officials have to stop selected favouritism to uphold the rule of law in its true spirit’, the IGP concluded.