Up to 77,000 cops to be deployed for LG polls

PESHAWAR: As many as 77,000 cops would be deployed for the local government elections in 17 districts of the province.

It was stated at a meeting on the law and order situation in the province, chaired by Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Tuesday, said an official handout.

The participants of the meeting took stock of the overall law and order situation with a special focus on the upcoming local government elections and the ongoing polio campaign. It led to a number of decisions.

Besides, Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Information, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Chief Secretary Shehzad Bangash, Inspector General Police, Moazzam Jah Ansari and Principal Secretary to CM, Amjad Ali Khan, the meeting was attended by administrative secretaries, divisional commissioners, regional police officers and others.

Briefing the participants of the meeting about the law and order situation security arrangements for the local government polls and other related matters, the officials said 10,000 Quick Response Forces of Army and Frontier Corps would be there as a backup to avoid any untoward situation during the polling.

The officials added that 9,000 polling stations in 17 districts had been divided into different categories — A, B, C with regard to security arrangements. It was informed that a total of nine security personals would be deployed in Category A polling stations, five in Category B and three in Category C polling stations.

The forum was informed that a Special Patrolling Squad (Ababeel Squad) was being raised to effective counter street crimes in the provincial capital.

Initially, the squad will consist of 200 motorbikes and 800 cops which will be increased to 400 and 1600 for the round the clock patrolling in the city.

In the second phase, the Ababeel Squad would be rolled out to six more districts followed by 26 districts in the next phase.

The chief minister, showing concerns about some law and order incidents in certain parts of the province, especially attacks on the police deputed on the security of police teams, directed the police for effective measures to avoid such incidents in future and improve the overall law and order situation.

He termed the untoward incident that took place in the Mandani area of Charsadda district a few days back as of serious concern.

Mahmood Khan directed that an independent inquiry covering all the aspects of the incidents be conducted through a special branch and a report of the inquiry be presented soon. He termed the peaceful holding of the upcoming local government elections as the prime responsibility of the government and directed the police and administration for foolproof security arrangements in this regard.

Mahmood Khan termed the long-lasted land disputes amongst various tribes of the merged districts as one of the main reasons for law and order in the area and directed the Home Department, police and relevant divisional and district administrations to devise a mechanism acceptable to both the parties for peaceful resolution of all such disputes once for all.

He directed the commissioner and regional police officer of Hazara to revisit the plan for the security of foreigners working on mega developmental projects in the region and put in place a foolproof security arrangement to this end in consultation with the concerned departments.

The chief minister directed the relevant officials to re-launch an aggressive campaign against narcotics across the province soon after the local government polls.

He ordered the Social Welfare Department and all others to work together for a course of action in collaboration with the relevant private sector organizations for the rehabilitation of drug addicts.