KP compiles police station-wise lists of mafias

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have compiled police station-wise lists of land mafias as well as individuals escorted by several gunmen to influence the local people just ahead of a major crackdown across the province, a source said on Tuesday.

Lists of drug dealers, particularly those involved in business of ice or meth, are also being finalised as a major operation against the mafias is on the cards.

“Police station-wise lists of land mafias are being verified to confirm that neither any member of the mafia is dropped by the local cops nor any innocent person is included to settle personal scores.

The lists of new-rich escorted by several gunmen with automatic weapons to spread terror are also being verified before an action against them so no innocent person is harmed and only those posing a threat to law and order are held,” said the source.

Lists of drug dealers and all other mafias in area of every police station are also being verified further so hand is laid on genuine criminals. Complaints of more youth becoming drug addicts has increased over the last few years.

The source informed that a list of over 150 land mafias has been compiled by the police in the provincial capital. The vetting of the lists is in the final stage while action against some of the criminals has already been taken.

“We have already launched action against the land mafias. Around 47 FIRs have been lodged during the last few months while 139 members of various land mafias have been arrested in Peshawar,” Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Yasir Afridi told The News.

All the police stations have been directed to identify and take action against the land grabbers, who occupy land of innocent people. Besides, the cops have been directed to go after the drug mafia that are ruining lives of tens of thousands of people.

“After a policy decision at the senior level, the implementation of any action planned against mafias at the police station and sub-divisional level is the toughest job. In some cases instead of laying hand on the real gangs, the police station staff go after the people, who carry a licensed weapon for security or arrest people with a few grams of ice, heroin or hashish to show a bigger number of arrests during the drive,” said the source.

In some police stations, the source added, the cops were doing well and had laid hands on various members of mafias already and some of the key members were held.

The source said that special law against illegal weapons and due punishment by the courts will encourage the cops.

In 2019, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police had identified around 1,484 members of various mafias including land-grabbers, ice (meth) dealers and usurers when an operation was launched.

The regional police officers (RPOs) and district police officers (DPOs) were directed to compile lists of the criminals in their areas. They were asked to submit a fortnightly report of their progress to the Central Police Office.

According to a source, around 447 big fish of land mafias, 518 ice dealers and 519 usurers were identified from across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the operation.