Threat assessment bodies formed for VIPs’ security

The Sindh Home Department has formed provincial and divisional committees to properly assess the level of security threats being faced by prominent persons and places, and to recommend how stringent security cover is required from law enforcement agencies to counter them.

The decision to constitute threat assessment committees was taken after the apex judiciary ordered provincial and federal capital police chiefs to immediately withdraw police security being provided to unauthorised persons in their respective jurisdictions.

A notification issued by the Sindh home secretary said Karachi’s Divisional Threat Assessment Committee will be headed by the city commissioner as the body’s chairman. Other members of the committee will be the Karachi police chief, the Sindh Rangers deputy chief, the Sindh Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) DIG, the Karachi Special Branch DIG, the Sindh police administration DIG and representatives of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Intelligence Bureau. The Sindh police administration DIG will also be the body’s secretary.

The threat assessment committees in Sindh’s other divisions will be headed by their respective commissioners. Their other members will include the relevant Sindh police DIG, the relevant CTD SSP, the relevant Special Branch SSP and representatives of the ISI and the IB. The DIG will also be the body’s secretary.

The committees’ terms of reference state that these bodies will assess the intensity of threats to prominent people, following which they will recommend to the home department or to the provincial threat assessment committee the extent of security to be provided to those persons.

The provincial threat assessment committee will be headed by the home minister. Its other members will be the home secretary, who will also be the body’s secretary; the Sindh police chief; the Sindh CTD chief; the Sindh Special Branch chief; the ISI sector commander and the IB joint director general.

The committee will receive recommendations from the divisional threat assessment committees regarding the need of security and the extent of security to be provided to prominent people under threat.

A related notice was sent by the home department to all divisional commissioners, urging them to immediately convene meetings of their respective threat assessment committees. The notice has set April 28 as the deadline for divisional committees to send their recommendations to the home department for the security cover required for prominent persons and places facing threats.