Punjab police to get latest weaponry to fight Katcha dacoits

LAHORE: The Punjab Cabinet’s Standing Committee on Law and Order has approved payment of Rs534 million to the National Radio and Telecom Company (NRTC), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Defence, which installed jammers and security devices in jails of the province.

The decision was taken in a recent meeting of the standing committee. The said amount had been pending from 2019 after the installation of jammers and security devices by the NRTC in jails.

Sources said that in the meeting, the issue of buying modern equipment and repairing some of it by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency was also discussed. For this, the committee immediately ordered to release Rs300 million to the agency.

According to sources, intelligence-based operations carried out by Rangers and settlement of internal security claims of various duties were also part of the agenda of the meeting. Under these heads, the Punjab standing committee issued orders for immediate payment of Rs340 million to the Punjab Rangers.

It also approved to pay Lahore deputy commissioner Rs200 million and Rawalpindi deputy commissioner Rs80 million for security expenses during the New Zealand-Pakistan cricket series.

During a briefing, the standing committee was told that in the recent attack on police personnel at the Jhangvi check-post in southern Punjab, terrorists used sophisticated night vision thermal devices and weapons that the FBI and US Navy Seals use. It was told that the Punjab Police do not have such advanced weaponry to fight terrorists in the presence of these weapons.

The provincial cabinet committee asked the Punjab Police high-ups present in the meeting to immediately provide their list of requirements including the latest night vision thermal devices to fight the terrorists.

The standing committee told the police officials that it was difficult to carry out operations in Katcha area, so the forum decided that drones and quadcopters would also be purchased for the Punjab Police. Sources said the Punjab Police have started working on the demand for modern security equipment, drones and copters to the standing committee.