New anti-riot force on the cards following May 9 mayhem

Police personnel in the new ‘Crowd Management Unit’ to be trained on international standards

In a bid to effectively handle situations similar to those witnessed on May 9, Inspector-General of Sindh Police (IGP) Ghulam Nabi Memon has decided to establish a new unit that will follow international standards on crowd management, Express News reported.

According to Express News, the approval for the anti-riot force as per international standards has already been granted by the provincal government.

The new “Crowd Management Unit” will consist of 3,000 personnel and will have four sub-units. Karachi will have 2,000 personnel, while Sukkur and Hyderabad will each have 500 deployed.

Read more: May 9 brazen attack on state of Pakistan, says PM

Each sub-unit will be commanded by an Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of grade 19, with Muhammad Riaz in Sukkur, Khalid Mustafa Koraye in Hyderabad, Rana Arif in Karachi's Qayyumabad, and Mohammad Ali Raza in the Baldia Town of Karachi already assuming their respective positions.

The new force will be required to respond professionally during any incident of violent public disorder to prevent loss of lives and damage to public and privateproperty, to counter any unruly crowds, and to maintain peace and law and order.

The training of the police personnel for the new unit will be conducted by internationally-trained instructors covering areas such as crowd management, riot control, crisis management, and negotiation with agitated demonstrators.

Furthermore, anti-riot gear has also been procured for the 3,000 personnel of the new force.