Rs 1.73b proposed for CTD revamp

PESHAWAR: An amount of Rs 1.737.834 billion has been proposed to revamp the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD ) throughout the province, a meeting was told on Thursday.

Inspector-General of Police Sanaullah Abbasi presided over a meeting at the CTD Headquarters where he received a detailed briefing.

The police chief was briefed about the revamp of the CTD, particularly its extension to merged districts, manpower requirements, vacancies, provision of vehicles and other professional equipment.

He was informed that out of the amount, Rs 588.150m would be spent for the purchase of security and intelligence equipment in merged districts. These included jammer-fitted vehicles, GSM locators, thermal binoculars, aerial surveillance drones and communication equipment.

The IGP was informed that all possible steps had been taken to strengthen the CTD network and technology-driven policing there. For the purpose, it was added, equipment worth Rs 150 m had been purchased which had played a pivotal role in promoting the latest intelligence-based policing and combatting terrorism in the area.

The IGP was informed that besides posting of CTD officials in the merged districts, 715 new vacancies had been sanctioned for which rules had been framed and sent to the government for approval. The recruitment would kick off shortly.

The police chief was told that a summary had already been sent to the government for the purchase of 7 bulletproof vehicles for the merged districts. The IGP appreciated the performance of CTD police in flushing out the terrorists from the province and directed them to expedite these efforts.