It seems police authorities do not follow rules and procedures regarding protection of VIPs and VVIPs.
KARACHI: This is with reference to a statement, reported in your newspaper, by the federal law minister, who said that it needed to be ascertained whether Salmaan Taseer’s assassination was the result of a security lapse or a conspiracy. This is something only a thorough investigation will reveal.
Sections of the media have already reported that following his arrest, Mumtaz Qadri said that he had told his colleagues of his intention to kill the governor and had also told them not to open fire at him and let him carry out his ‘deed’.
If this is true, then the senior officer in charge of the security detail should be held accountable. Rules and procedures regarding protection of VIPs and VVIPs are laid down in a ‘blue book’ but it seems that police authorities do not follow it. Security personnel selected for protecting VIPs should be vetted to ascertain their background, religious thinking and so on before they are selected. Also, from time to time, they should be examined by a psychiatrist or psychologist so their state of mind can be monitored. In addition, the police department’s internal intelligence should be used to ensure that any guard who holds views that could make him a security risk is brought under the department’s scanner.
Sqn-Ldr (retd) S Ausaf Husain
Published in The Express Tribune, January 7th, 2011.
