Police raid 100 houses, detains 97 suspects

PML-N leaders term the operation ‘a quest to change loyalties’

LAHORE:

In a late night development, police conducted over 100 raids at the houses of notorious ‘criminals’ and arrested over 97 suspects on Wednesday.

The raiding teams also recovered arms and ammunition in a large quantity.

Opposing the action of the police against ‘proclaimed offenders and those harbouring criminals’, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sohail Shaukat Butt said the law enforcement agencies were forcing people to shift their loyalties towards the current government.

He accused the police of heavy firing at his house which broke several windowpanes. He claimed that the cops also arrested his domestic helpers.

“My right as a member of the legislative assembly was violated in the action.”

Members of Punjab Assembly Ghazali Saleem Butt and Khawaja Imran Nazeer also criticized the police operation.

On the other hand police said the teams had conducted the crackdown against those harbouring proclaimed offenders involved in murder, attempt to murder, etc.

A large number of traders also staged a protest at the Shah Alam Market and alleged that the cops arrested innocent minors, broke electronic devices and stole valuables from the house. The demonstrators also blocked roads and burnt tyres.

Last year, the police had nominated top 10 criminals of the city whereas few of those nominated individuals had approached the Lahore High Court against the police nomination. The court had given relief to the petitioners and had directed the cops to remove their names from the notorious list.

Official sources said the three top cops of Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, DIG Investigations Lahore Shariq Jamal and DIG Operations Ashfaq Khan had gathered at night and ordered a crackdown.

As per sources, they conducted over a 100 raids in the jurisdiction of 29 police stations.

SSP Investigations Abdul Ghaffar Qaisrani during a press conference said that police during the crackdown arrested 97 suspects and recovered three kalashinkovs, 29 rifles, 27 pistols and hundreds of bullets.

The arrested suspects included Iqbal alias Bali, Amir Fateh Tipu, Masob, Ramzan Butt, Allah Ditta alias Heera, Iliyas Gujjar, Bali Butt and others.

IGP Inam Ghani chairs meeting of Lahore Police command

IGP Ghani on Wednesday conducted a meeting at his office with senior police officers of Lahore Police and appreciated them over the crackdown.

Ghani said that eradication of crime particularly land grabbing is the top priority of the department.

He further said that patrolling hours of Dolphin Force, Peru and other agencies in the crime infested hotspots of the city should be increased.

“Circle officers should be on field during peak hours in key areas to review the patrolling plan and its effectiveness in curbing crime.”

Additional IG Operations Sahibzada Shehzad Sultan, CCPO Lahore Ghulam Mehmood Dogar and DIG Investigation Sharaq Jamal and other officers were present during the meeting.

Not for the first time

This is not the first time that the IGP issued orders in this regard. Last year, then-IGP had also issued a similar crackdown throughout Punjab. Raids were conducted throughout Punjab including the provincial capital.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2021.