311,900 rounded up in KP in over 25,000 operations in two years

Innocent civilians all over province suffered during raids

PESHAWAR: More than 311,900 ‘suspects’ were rounded up in over 25,000 search and strike operations and around 110,000 snap checking in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the last almost two years.

Many question how many of those arrested during these actions were innocent as they were arrested just for the number game and were released soon after they proved to be innocent.

According to statistics of the Central Police Office, 25,200 search and strike operations were carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the year 2015 and 2016.

Besides, the police carried out snap checking more than 110,000 times all over the province.During the drive, around 46,900 weapons and 1.5 million rounds of different bore were recovered. As per the statistics, 311,900 suspects were rounded up during these actions.Independent sources said the number could be higher as many were released immediately after their arrest when they proved to be innocent. Many believe that it will be a great achievement if actual terrorists and criminals in such large numbers were arrested.

However, the fact remains that thousands of those arrested had to be released after a few hours when the local elected representatives or elders approached the concerned police and assured the cops they were innocent.

However, these innocent civilians went through humiliation of the raids on their houses and physical torture while being taken to the lockup.Senior police officers on a number of occasions said the cops have been directed not to bother innocent civilians but the practice continued as the police wanted to show they have made arrests in large numbers.According to the statistics, 21,382 cases were registered against the owners of houses under the tenant information act.

Similarly, around 3,000 cases were registered against the owners and managers of hotels under the relevant act for not properly registering those who stayed at their hotels.In addition, 7,962 cases were registered against the owners and principals of educational institutions for not taking adequate security measures in the wake of the threats to schools and colleges.

Also, cases were registered against more than 34,000 Afghans under the 14 Foreigners Act for not possessing any document to legalise their stay in Pakistan either as refugee or as immigrant.