Still threatened: Lack of security will keep investors away, says KPCCI president

Police assures traders of more security in city


Hidayat Khan March 02, 2016
Police assures traders of more security in city. PHOTO: fb.com/KP-Police

PESHAWAR:


Although the police claim the department has made efforts to provide security to traders in the city, they still feel unsafe as they remain on the extortionists’ radar. Traders believe investors will not consider the province an option for business under such circumstances.


“The business community in the city is faced with lack of security due to threats of extortion and kidnapping for ransom,” Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Zulfiqar Ali Khan said while addressing a meeting with the police at the KPCCI building on Wednesday. “[Given such circumstances] no investor will come to the province unless there is security of life and property.”



Traders in the city told The Express Tribune they have even removed their contact numbers from the hoardings outside their shops in order to avoid threatening calls. They said they protest on a regular basis, demanding safety and the arrest of the killers of senior trader Haleem Jan, who refused to bow down before extortionists and was killed in Qissa Khwani Bazaar in broad daylight in February.

Security first

Although the provincial government has focused on reviving the economy and has planned on four new industrial estates in K-P, all efforts would be futile unless there is security, traders believe.

The traders present on the occasion criticised the police for not taking concrete steps to restore peace and provide security to investors. They demanded more police officers should be deployed at the police station in Hayatabad Industrial Estate as factory owners feel unsafe. The estate is located on the outskirts of the city.

Role of the police

Capital City Police officer Mubarak Zeb Khan who was also present on the occasion said an additional 200 police personnel along with a 30-member motorbike squad will patrol the city. He added 118 security cameras will be installed in different parts of the city. Mubarak informed the traders that police have made progress in the investigation of Jan’s case and would soon share details with them.

It was decided the business community and police would form a liaison committee that will help ensure better security measures.

“Even after they killed Jan, we are receiving threats of extortion from Afghani mobile numbers,” Markazi Tajaran General Secretary Shaukat Ali Khan told The Express Tribune. He added besides police officials, they also held meetings with senior government officials, including the Peshawar DC – all of whom gave assurances. “[So] we are satisfied [to some extent],” added Shaukat.

Also in attendance were members of KPCCI and senior traders including Sharafat Ali Mubarak, Haji Muhammad Afzal and Abdul Jalil Jan. Police officials who were present included the SSP operations.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2016.

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