Absorption of Levies, Khassadars into KP Police to be completed soon: IGP

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police chief Sanaullah Abbasi has said that his top priority is absorption of Levies and Khassadar personnel into the KP Police and keeping law-enforcement machinery on its toes in the newly merged districts. The new police chief, who assumed charge recently, was sure that the process of absorbing all the Levies and Khassadar personnel would be completed soon.

The previous police chiefs faced resistance as they endeavoured to introduce a police system in the tribal areas similar to the one in settled districts. “The Levies and Khassadars are to be inducted in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in two phases. In the first phase, the cases of those who have no issue would be settled and they would be simply absorbed into KP Police,” Sanaullah Abbasi told The News. He added that the cases of the rest of the officials would be decided in the second phase.

The Central Police Office has recently sent letters to the Home Department, suggesting dividing the process of absorption of Levies and Khassadars, who number around 29,000, in two phases, a source told The News. The letter sent by the AIG Establishment Zaib Ullah Khan in mid-December, in reply to shortcomings pointed out in the process, proposed first absorbing those Levies and Khassadars personnel who have been cleared in the first phase.

“The cases requiring further clarification be proceeded in the phase-II. All those drawing salaries as per records of AG office be absorbed as per their acquaintances rolls and those requiring further clarification be proceeded in Phase-II. All be absorbed in Phase-I according to list provided by the deputy commissioner offices and those requiring further clarification be proceeded in phase-II,” stated the letter. The KP Police has also constituted a technical committee headed by DIG Special Branch Qazi Jamil and including DIG Sajid Ali and DIG Zafar Ali for the purpose.

“The next stage is building infrastructure for the force in the newly merged districts. The government has approved Rs450 million for the purpose and this amount would be spent on construction of police stations, lines, offices and posts,” said Abbasi, who was serving as IGP in Gilgit-Baltistan till last month.

“In the settled areas, bringing an end to the street crimes is the top priority. We are introducing technology for this purpose to better monitor our cities,” said the top cop. He added that the Safe City Project for Peshawar would be completed soon. Under the Safe City Project, around 6,000 cameras are to be installed in the provincial capital at more than 800 different points to keep a check on the suspicious elements as well as to monitor the police attitude towards citizens at the checkpoints. The project was proposed over a decade ago but it could not be started due to the wrangling between different government departments, a source added.

According to the IGP, a number of steps are being taken for the welfare of the policemen in the province. The KP Police have offered more sacrifices than any other province’s force in the war on terror for the last almost 15 years, he added. “Besides, we are going for the capacity building of the force through more and specialised training and courses for the cops,” he said. He added that no corrupt elements would be tolerated in the force while those performing well would be rewarded.