IGP says progress against mafias to be considered performance indicator

PESHAWAR: The chief of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police has said that the performance of the regional police officers (RPOs) and district police officers in the crackdown on ice (methamphetamine) dealers, usurers, extortionists and land grabbers would be treated as a performance indicator in the coming days.

Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Naeem Khan had ordered an aggressive campaign all over the province against the mafias involved in land grabbing, extortion and usury from innocent people and selling ice and other drugs.

All the RPOs and DPOs have been directed to personally supervise the campaign in their areas to give relief to the general public.

The IGP in fresh directives stated that the output of each DPO and RPO would be considered as a performance indicator.

For this, a format has been circulated in which action taken against the mafia shall be mentioned and a fortnightly report to this effect be submitted to the Central Police Office.

There have been several complaints in which the land mafia, supported by local influential people brandishing automatic weapons in double cabin pickups and jeeps, is involved in occupying the land of the innocent people who have no access to the government and police. In many cases, the criminals have been demanding extortion from the owners of the land in urban, suburban and rural areas.

Police in the past had also announced action against the land mafia and those groups branding automatic weapons in the provincial capital. Similar actions were also carried out in Peshawar and other districts against the ice dealers, aerial firing and usury with lodging a large number of cases and arresting many people. An official said that the police force this time want to make sure that none of these gangs could operate in future and this is why RPOs, CCPO and DPOs have been told to show genuine performance so people can get relief.