Fighting crime: Over 1,800 POs held in 100 days, says ministry

FIA, ANF and Islamabad Police’s successful crackdown

ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry, on Tuesday, said that the Islamabad Police, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) have made over 1,800 arrests, within the first 100 days of their campaign against proclaimed offenders (POs).

In a meeting, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was informed that the CNICs of 769 POs have been blocked and 1,139 passports have been blacklisted since the launch of the campaign.

A press release issued by the ministry said that 581 bank accounts and 826 mobile phones being used by POs had also been blocked.

The meeting was attended by secretaries for interior, narcotics division, and interior, as well as inspector-general (IG) of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police, and other senior officials of the ministry and concerned departments.

The minister directed the FIA, the police and the ANF to speed up the campaign against the POs, so that the final assessment and future policy against them could be established by the end of July.

Nisar was further briefed that a central databank of POs had also been established in coordination with the Nadra.

Nisar directed the FIA to complete pending enquiries of major cases in a month’s time.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2016.