Quality of police protective gear in question after recent attack

Bulletproof vests, helmets currently in use in K-P are more than a decade old

PESHAWAR:

Earlier this month, two police constables, Qasim and Ayaz, were making their way for taraweeh duty to a mosque in Kohat, when they were apprehended and murdered by a terrorist faction.

Albeit both of the martyred policemen were wearing bullet proof jackets and fibre helmets, their bodies and protective equipment were found riddled with bullets, which has put a question mark on the quality of equipment being used by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) police - especially when terrorism is peaking again in the province.

However, this is not the first time that the protective equipment used by K-P Police has raised eyebrows. In 2008, the provincial government at that time released some Rs 7 billion for bullet proof jackets, modern weapons, and vehicles to appropriately equip the police, since terrorism was on the rise. A subsequent inspection of the purchases made found that not only were the bullet proof jackets and ammunition purchases substandard but a significant chunk of the money ended up being embezzled.

Even though the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) caught up with the alleged mastermind of the embezzlement, former inspector general K-P police Malik Naveed, the K-P Police is still relying on the same substandard equipment purchased in 2008. Presently, since the equipment could not protect Qasim and Ayaz, not only are the police in Kohat severely demoralised but are also doubtful about their safety.

When quizzed about the substandard equipment which was now giving the Kohat Police sleepless nights, Director of the Forensic Science Lab (FSL) K-P, Waqar Khan, replied: “Our bullet proof jackets are impeccable. The martyrdom of the personnel was not caused by bullets passing through the jackets.” Khan, whilst defending the equipment used by K-P Police, further said, “our bullet proof jackets are top of the line. They are capable of defending against bullets from G3, AK-47, and M16 guns.”

Despite Khan’s defence of the equipment, the Inspector General K-P Police, recently formed an inquiry committee on the issue of poor quality of bullet proof jackets in the Kohat incident. The Express Tribune spoke to Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Accountability, Muhammad Sulaiman, about the findings of the inquiry committee. “The departmental inquiry shows that our martyred personnel were on a motorcycle when they were fired upon due to which they lost their balance and fell. Thus, multiple bullets penetrated other parts of their bodies and they succumbed to their wounds.”

Nonetheless, Sulaiman, conceded that the present equipment was nowhere near the equipment provided to police forces in other countries. “The equipment used in Europe and other developed countries is lightweight and offers better protection but it is also very expensive,” the DIG informed. When pointed out that such a splurge would not be amiss given the rise in terrorism, Sulaiman said, “we are in the process of procuring new jackets which will be of a much better quality than before.” However, the DIG did not give a timeline on when the purchase would be made.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4^th, 2023.