LAHORE: The Standing Committee of the Punjab Cabinet on Law & Order meets in a special sitting today (Monday) at 12:00pm in the Khalid Sherdil Conference Room at the Civil Secretariat to consider a nine-point docket spanning public order, flood deployments and major-event security. The meeting, chaired by Khawaja Salman Rafiq, Minister for Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education, will review the province-wide law and order situation, examine security plans for the Tri-Nation cricket series featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and take decisions on force deployments and forensic funding, according to an official communication available with The News.
Briefings on the general security review are slated from the Inspector General of Police, Special Branch, Counter-Terrorism Department, and representatives of the ISI, MI and IB. The committee will also take up the constitution of Joint Investigation Teams (JITs), with the Additional Secretary (Judicial) scheduled to brief.
A key item seeks extension of the authorization for Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) to conduct intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Attock and Dera Ghazi Khan. Two related summaries, to be presented by the Additional Secretary (Internal Security), call for confirmation of ongoing deployments: (i) Army and Aviation assets for flood-relief operations and (ii) Army personnel for flood damage-assessment surveys across affected districts. The committee will further consider confirmation of troop deployment to maintain public order during a TLP protest.
The body will also deliberate allocation of funds for the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) through a Technical Supplementary Grant, with inputs from the Additional Secretary (Home) and the Director General, PFSA.
The ministerial lineup invited to the sitting includes Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman (Finance & Parliamentary Affairs), Shafay Hussain (Industries, Commerce & Investment; Auqaf & Religious Affairs), Bilal Akbar Khan (Transport & Mass Transit), Syed Muhammad Ashiq Hussain Shah (Agriculture) and Sohaib Ahmed Malik (Communication & Works). Senior civil and police leadership — the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, IGP, Additional IG (CTD), Additional IG (Special Branch) and the Joint DG, Intelligence Bureau — have been called to attend, alongside representatives of the ISI and MI.
Given the geographic spread of items, several officers will join via video link: the RPO/CPO Rawalpindi and the Deputy Commissioners of Attock and D G Khan on matters relating to IBOs and district security; while DC Rawalpindi and DC Lahore will brief alongside the PCB Chief Operating Officer on arrangements for the tri-nation cricket series.
Officials have been asked to ensure attendance as per the notified time and venue. Decisions taken today are expected to set immediate operational guidance for policing, inter-agency coordination and resource allocation as Punjab navigates event-security pressures, post-monsoon recovery and protest-management contingencies.
