During this year, political activity increased across Punjab, ahead of general elections next year. As this activity has grown, so has the Punjab Police’s responsibility to ensure the security of important personalities and the overall law and order situation.
The Wazirabad firing on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s container also highlighted the issue of politicians’ security. Although police frequently implored that Imran Khan and other PTI leaders use bulletproof rostrums at rallies, this advice was not followed and top PTI leaders were left injured after the shooting incident. Since then, PTI leaders delivered speeches using bulletproof glass and rostrums at the long march container.
Police in big cities like Lahore, Faisalabad and Gujranwala possess such equipment, unlike smaller cities like Wazirabad, where such facilities are absent as they are rarely needed. However, the Wazirabad incident highlighted that adherence to security SOPs must be followed at every station, as untoward incidents can occur anywhere.
Punjab Police, even before the Wazirabad incident, had been working on building the capacity to ensure security for mass gatherings for the preceding several weeks.
Three weeks ago, the Punjab Constabulary (PC) informed the IG Punjab that over 7,000 tear gas shells, around 5,000 tear gas guns and over 10,000 rubber bullets had expired. The PC works as a reserve force in the province and would become active whenever an unusual situation emerged. They were also asked to carry the equipment in such scenarios with them. PC officials requested the IG office to procure new equipment for active duty use and training purposes.
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Similarly, a few weeks back, police had requisitioned seven more bullet proof rostrums. According to the procurement plan, three rostrums were meant for Lahore and one each for other areas. Earlier, Punjab Police and Special Branch had only 12 such rostrums.
Other procurement plans for the Punjab Police included the procurement of 300,000 paintballs and other equipment for the Anti-Riot Force (ARF). The paintballs will be acquired in the first phase, of which 50,000 will be handed over to the Lahore police. The paintballs are used to disperse the protesters.
Punjab Police had been investing heavily in increasing the capacity of the ARF for the past several years, aiming to replicate the force throughout the province. Recently, it elected to spend over Rs180 million on new equipment, including over Rs30 million on tear gas guns and over Rs30 million to procure special gas masks. Similarly, Rs30 million will be spent on safety gear, Rs33 million for plastic riot shields, Rs24 million on helmets, Rs4 million on riot clubs and Rs4 million on pepper spray.
Punjab Police top brass and the provincial government are investing more to build the capacity of the force in view of the likelihood of possible future recurrence of law and order issues and political activities.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 28th, 2022.
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