City police told to crack down on people selling charity food in market

Karachi Additional Inspector of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon has directed his force to deal with the citizens politely as they perform their duties to enforce a government-imposed lockdown to fight coronavirus.

The top cop of the city has been holding meetings with his subordinates and visiting different areas to review policing for the lockdown. During Wednesday's meeting at his office with his subordinates, including the deputy inspectors general of police and senior superintendents of all the districts of the Karachi Police, he told them that the police would ensure a crackdown against those persons who were making this difficult time an opportunity for themselves by collecting rations from different organisations and selling them in the market.

Talking to The News, Additional IGP Memon said he had given instructions to the range DIGs and district SSPs in the meeting to ensure peace and security in Karachi during the coronavirus emergency.

He stated that there was frustration in the public and it might increase if the situation created by the coronavirus emergency did not improve. In that case, he added, the police had to keep their reserves in the "ready to move mode” in order to deal with any unpleasant situation.

Memon said the DIGs and the SSPs would personally inspect their reserves and ensure inclusion of the most suitable manpower, besides giving them appropriate anti-riot gear for such duty.

He directed that the SSPs should upgrade their intelligence mechanism and collect information from the underprivileged localities in their AoR for any food shortage.

The welfare organisations would be encouraged to supply rations in such areas which were reported to have a shortage of food under the mechanism worked out by the government, he said.

The additional IG of the Special Branch of the Sindh Police will also be requested to collect such information and share data horizontally at the district and zonal levels. According to the instructions given by Memon, the police will ensure a crackdown against those persons who are making this difficult time an opportunity by collecting rations from different organisations and selling them in the market. In this regard, the media is requested to highlight and encourage the public to inform the police about such swindlers so that effective action may be taken against them. A drive against hoarding and overpricing will also be carried out in coordination with the district administration.

The Karachi police chief said the police would identify miscreants who may misguide people to agitate, and the SSPs would share such information with all the concerned quarters and take legal action against such people in order to avoid any potential law and order situation. The police in coordination with the Rangers will ensure that rations should not be distributed at any open place to avoid gatherings of people. The preferred mode of the ration supply will be door to door that too in early hours from 4am to 7am only.

Police officers deployed at pickets will be reminded again to be polite but firm. Also, the SSPs will prepare a comprehensive plan for night patrolling and pickets for the security of shopping areas and banks in order to avoid incidents of burglary. In this exercise, the market associations will be taken on board, said the Karachi police chief.