Need for police vehicles hard to ignore

Karachi
Various police stations do not have enough vehicles to bring detainees to courts; in order to avoid allegations of ‘illegal confinement’ investigation officers (IOs) sometimes brought the accused to courts in public transport.
This was stated by city police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo on Sunday while commenting on the suspension of two police officials, Station Investigation Officer (SIO) Saleem Naz and Inspector Ghulam Jabbar of the Iqbal Market police station, by Sindh Inspector General Police Ghulam Hyder Jamali for producing two accused of a banned outfit to an anti-terrorism court in a rickshaw.
Thebo informed that most of the police stations either had small vehicles, which could not be used for transporting accused to courts, or had no vehicles at all.
“If the IOs of the police station had official vehicles, they would not have to make use of the rickshaw or any other public transport for that matter.”
A senior police official requesting anonymity also confirmed that Karachi police was in a dire need of resources, including vehicles adding that the Sindh IGP as well as the provincial government was made aware of the situation but no action had yet been taken.
“Vehicles are the basic need for every police station; patrolling vehicles, transportation vehicles and bullet-proof and armoured vehicles are the requirement of the Karachi police as well.
But unfortunately higher authorities are not taking the lack of resources seriously.”
He further added that due to paucity of funds each police station in the city were given two patrolling vehicles but due to unavailability of maintenance funds, both the vehicles in most of the police stations were not in workable conditions.
“We are conducting an operation for the past two years in the city against criminals, terrorists and gangsters but we don’t have enough vehicles to chase them, carry out patrolling duties or produce arrested criminals in court,” he claimed.

Security of VIPs
“Around 200 of the newly acquired vehicles had been handed over to Security Zones I and II to look after the security of high court judges, VIPs, belonging to ruling parties’; MNAs, MPAs and Senators and other important personalities,” the senior police official claimed.
He added some legislators had two to three police mobiles at their disposal in addition to the vehicles of Special Security Unit (SSU) of Sindh police, specially assigned for providing security to VIPs.
“The city police also lacked other resources such as weapons, bullet-proof vests, helmets, bullet-proof vehicles and armoured the PM as well as the provincial chief minister and other concerned authorities despite being apprised of the situation pushed us into a war against criminals and gangsters without necessary resources,” the police official observed.