Islamabad Police
PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Chairing the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Interior Affairs meeting at NADRA Headquarters, he said all provinces should be given equal rights for recruitment in Islamabad Police but locals should have priority for recruitment of constables.
The committee expressed ire over the absence of interior minister and Islamabad IGP, saying that participation in the next meeting should be ensured in any event. They said if Interior Minister Ejaz Shah and IG Aamir Zulfiqar don’t have time, the committee should also go home.
Khurram Shahzad explained that interior minister and IGP were absent because they have been summoned by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser over arrest of Irfan Siddiqui.
Regarding the issue of demolishing kiosks in Islamabad, MNA Nafisa Khattak said that government was snatching the livelihood of poor people. Committee member Agha Rafiq said only the poor people are targeted while the rich and powerful go scot free.
Islamabad Mayor Ansar Aziz said that the real owners of these kiosks were politically well connected people or officers of Capital Development Authority (CDA).
The members of NA panel demanded pasting photographs of owners on these khokas. They said there should be action against the people who are sub-letting these kiosks.
The NA panel formed a committee under Khattak to submit a report on kiosks in Islamabad. CDA acting on Supreme Court orders was removing kiosks as encroachment.
Aziz said the basic objective was to streamline the cabins and kiosks system in capital as majority of them were misusing the facility. He said 235 kiosk holders were being offered alternative places in other areas of the Capital.
Decline in crime rate
The panel was informed that owing to efforts of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Police incidents of heinous crimes in the capital have dropped by approximately 30 per cent during last eight months as compared to similar period in the past year.
Overall there has been 10 per cent decrease in crimes in Islamabad, said (Security) DIG Waqar Chohan while briefing the meeting.
DIG Chohan told the NA panel that 1,483 cases of different nature of heinous crimes were registered during November 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 while during November 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, the number of such registered crimes was 1,909.
Giving further details, he said the number of registered robbery cases was 266 during last eight months while 393 such cases were registered during same period last year.
Similarly, 188 cases of burglaries were registered during last eight months and 262 such cases were registered during same period last year.
The number of registered murder cases was 73 during last eight months and 72 such cases registered during same period last year.
Capital police registered 263 cases of theft during last eight months while the number of such cases was 368 during same period last year.
Moreover, the meeting was further informed that during last eight months capital police registered 415 cases of vehicle theft while the number of such registered cases was 563 during same period last year.
Khurram directed police to further improve its performance and ensure resolution of people's grievances through adopting more steps at areas level. Earlier, the chairman deferred discussion on proposed amendments in different Bills till next meeting of the Committee due to absence of senior officer from Ministry of Law and Justice.
The meeting was also attended by MNAs, including, Sher Akbar Khan, Syed Agha Rafiullah, Abdul Qadir Patel, Sardar Talib Hassan Nakai, Khawaja Sheraz Mahmood, secretary Interior and representatives of ministry of law and justice and Islamabad police.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 30th, 2019.
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