A firm grip: ‘NAP was a turning point in inter-governmental coordination’

The Express Tribune talks to IGP Nasir Durrani about extortion, refugees and crime

PESHAWAR:

Militant groups based in parts of Afghanistan are involved in extortion and kidnapping for ransom in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, IGP Nasir Durrani said in an interview with The Express Tribune. Discussing the change in dynamics of crime and terrorism, Durrani said, “National Action Plan (NAP) led to excellent coordination between various government departments.” Nonetheless, Durrani added, there was a decline in militancy and extortion, these remained pressing concerns.

“There are three types of people involved in extortion: ordinary criminals, militants based in Fata and settled districts, and those based in Afghanistan,” he said.

Durrani added military operations in Fata had eliminated extortionists present there while the K-P police targeted them in the settled district. However, the third group based in Afghanistan is still active. As per the IGP, militants groups based in parts of Afghanistan were involved in extortion and kidnapping for ransom in K-P. “Another problem is the illegal gateways that are being used by terrorists to call people and extort money from them,” he said. “These are difficult to deal with. However, we are working on a strategy to address this problem along with the use of Afghan SIMs with the help of FIA and PTA,” he said. According to Durrani, the situation has improved in the province over the past 10 days as far as extortion was concerned.

National Action Plan

According to Durrani, the National Action Plan (NAP) has ensured government organisations work effectively, in cohesion. He said the apex committee introduced under NAP was a key forum where information is shared.

“This committee meets almost on a daily basis at the Corps commander’s office and representatives of all stakeholder organisations attend the meeting,” he said. “Information and intelligence is shared based on which tasks are performed.”

He added, “In the past, police had no access to Fata.” He said, “But this is no [longer] a problem as others who work there coordinate with us.”

Means to an end

“For the past 15 years, terrorism has been a major problem in K-P,” the IGP told The Express Tribune. “So we established the counter-terrorism department. It was approved in 2013 and established in 2014.”

He added, “A team was constituted and police stations were created. This year, 400 terrorism cases have been traced successfully and 700 militants have been arrested,” he said.

According to Durrani, a team of competent police officers are working for CTD and its efforts have borne fruit.

Speaking about the case of a polio worker who was raped in Nowshera, Durrani said the accused was a proclaimed offender who escaped during the Bannu jail break in 2012. He said he had been arrested and a scientific investigation had been initiated in the case.

Police act

To a question about the effectiveness of reforms initiated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government, Durrani said he was trying to provide a legislative cover to the reforms introduced over the past two years through the proposed police act. “The proposed act would make us accountable to the public,” he said. “The PTI government provided us a free hand to work in a professional manner and we did so. Now it is time to make these reforms durable by means of legislation.” He added, “These are two main points [in the act] – accountability and authority.”

Reinstatement

About the reinstatement of some of the 650 employees removed from the police force by the service tribunal, the IGP said it was the right of every individual to get justice and the tribunal had the authority to reinstate fired employees.

“After taking charge, I started to purge the police force,” he said. “We removed around 650 people from service. We have no problem if some of them have been restored. They were out of the force for two years and will be under pressure all their lives.”

Afghan dilemma

CNICs issued to Afghan refugees remain a major problem, he told The Express Tribune. He said it was for the first time in the history of the province that FIRs were being registered against those who attested and facilitated refugees in obtaining these cards.

“In the past, NADRA simply blocked the CNICs,” he said. “But now we are registering FIRs against those who facilitated them. It is now not that easy for an Afghan family to obtain a CNIC.”

The IGP said in 1988, the federal government allowed refugees to live anywhere outside the refugee camps. This led to a major threat to law and order.

“Not all Afghans are criminals,” he said. “The problem is local criminals have a house and [registered identity] through which they can be traced. But refugees move freely across the country after committing a crime, which is a real problem.”

Durrani added their policy is to arrest those refugees who are residing in the country without registration. “The jails were soon full of these refugees so we started deporting them,” he said. “There were reports deported refugees were crossing back into the country so our policy is a continuous crackdown against them.”

A man of many places

Durrani joined the Police Services of Pakistan in 1982. Before he became K-P IGP, he was AIG counter-terrorism in Punjab. Previously, he has served in Islamabad, Jhang, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sargodha and Attock as DPO. Durrani also served as RPO in Rawalpindi.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28^th, 2015.