Rising crime: Abbottabad nazim unhappy with police performance

Sardar Sher Bahadur says officials unable to keep crime rate down, or track criminals

ABBOTABAD: Abbottabad’s District Nazim Sardar Sher Bahadur has criticised the police for its involvement in extra judicial killings and poor performance in a number of cases.

Speaking to the media on Saturday evening, he said the wave of robberies, burglaries, target killings and other criminal activities was on the rise in the area after District Police Officer Khurum Rasheed was posted to the city.

He pointed out that three leading traders from Abbottabad city, an office bearer of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf from Havelian Tehsil were murdered in the last quarter but the police had yet to trace the killers.

He further added that five months had passed but the police had failed to submit a challan in the case of a girl burnt in Makol Paeyn, while complaints of police torture and extra judicial killings were also frequent.

Bahadur raised the case of Junaid Khan, alias Joni, who was allegedly gunned down in a fake police encounter.Officials, however, had claimed that he and his six accomplices had attacked the police.

The entire staff of the Nawansheher police station was subsequently suspended.

Bahadur  described the performance of Abbottabad police and its district chief as poor and unsatisfactory adding that people paid taxes and bore salaries of the police personnel for protection of their lives, honour and property.

However, he lamented that people in the district were not feeling safe and that there was a growing sense of insecurity.

He asked the DPO and his team to improve their performance.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2016.