Lacklustre police performance puts question mark on priorities

Despite having spent copious amounts of money on improving police stations and to better handle crimes like sexual violence, Khyber Pakhtunkwa’s (K-P) law enforcement agencies have so far failed in ensuring the protection of the province’s transgender and female population.

The Asaan Insaf Marakiz were launched, back in 2021, to provide swift resolution for complaints and improve policing in the province; however, these key objectives are yet to be fulfilled. For instance, this year in February, 16-year-old, Sana, a dancer by profession was murdered in her house on Dalzaaq Road in K-P’s capital and nearly 10 months later her mother Meena Gul is still waiting for the accused to be arrested. “I am tired of visiting the police station every other day.

There is CCTV footage from which the killers of my daughter can be easily identified. However, since they are powerful people the police have failed to arrest them,” informed a visibly distraught Meena. The 16-year-old’s mother also complained to the Inspector General (IG) K-P Police at the Peshawar Press Club a few months back, after which the IG Moazzam Jah Ansari directed CCPO Peshawar, Ijaz Khan, to take action but to no avail. Like Meena, the family of 22-year-old Dina Bibi has also been waiting for the police to fulfil its duty for the past few months.

Back in August, Dina’s dead body, was found within the limits of Rehman Baba Police Station in Hazar Khawani, a suburb of Peshawar; initially the death was ruled as a suicide but after an investigation it transpired that Dina had been murdered. Dina’s family, which hails from Chitral, have been coming to Peshawar regularly in search of justice but return empty-handed every time. Similarly, last month, in November, the police found the body of a woman wrapped in a sack within the limits of Peshawar Police Station, Michni Gate - even though a preliminary report was registered, the police are yet to find any major clues in the case. More recently, on 9th December, Nazia, a teacher, was shot dead in Daudzai, a suburb of Peshawar and the accused managed to escape from the scene. Just like in the cases of Sana and Dina, the police have been unable to arrest the killers.

Investigation department sources told The Express Tribune that dozens of such cases have been confined to the files in the past several months and sooner or later the families will stop pursuing them due to their frustration with the system. SSP Operations, Peshawar, Kashif Abbasi, was asked about the lacklustre performance of the police in closing the murder cases. “We have recently started the 15 service. If there is a problem with FIR registration or if the victim’s family is not getting justice, they should report it through this service,” replied Kashif, adding that they try to address all complaints within 24 hours.

Lack of resources and manpower

Part of the reason why the police do not follow through on cases is the lack of manpower and finances. Data gathered from K-P police by The Express Tribune reveals that for a city with a population of more than 2 million people, only 440 officials are in the police’s investigation department to deal with an annual caseload of roughly 40,000 — which translates into more than 3,000 FIRs registered per month in the 33 police stations across the city. Furthermore, the cost of investigation of an FIR has been set at Rs 7,000.

The meagre amount is supposed to cover transport, raids, arrest of accused, appearance in court, photocopies of case records, medical, and forensic evidence. In contrast, Punjab Police’s cost for the investigation of an FIR has been set at Rs40,000. Shehzad Kokab Farooq, SSP Investigation of Peshawar Police's Investigation Department, when asked about the lack of manpower and resources, conceded that investigations in the city were challenging. “However, we try to make do with whatever we have. Recently, we have traced 3 rape cases,” Shehzad told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2022.