Despite the Punjab government's clear policy of arresting and bringing the wanted criminals involved in serious cases to justice, the number of Category A and B proclaimed absconders (POs) in the Rawalpindi district has exceeded 9,000.
In January, only 203 POs from Category A and B were arrested across the district. At the divisional level, Rawal Division police's performance was disappointing, with only 58 out of 2,500 POs apprehended. Pothohar Division police apprehended 94 out of over 3,000, while Saddar Division police arrested 71 out of 2,500 absconders.
Rawalpindi SSP Operations Kashif Zulfiqar expressed frustration over the poor performance and instructed the heads of the divisions, circles, and police stations to ensure the completion of the monthly task of apprehending absconders at the police station level and to send daily reports. He also warned of strict departmental action if the targets or tasks were not met.
Clear instructions have been given across Punjab for the police to control crimes by apprehending wanted criminals and bringing them to court. In Rawalpindi, City Police Officer (CPO) Khalid Hamdani has assigned tasks at the divisional, circle, and police station levels, setting up a mechanism for utilising the force effectively.
SSP Operations Kashif Zulfiqar is conducting daily and weekly monitoring. However, in January, Rawalpindi's police stations like New Town, City, Ratta Amral, Cantt, Chontra, and Naseerabad showed poor performance, with only three or four absconders being arrested in total.
In a letter to all three divisional SPs, circle officers, and SHOs across the district, SSP Operations Kashif Zulfiqar stated that despite being given tasks for the arrest of POs and judicial fugitives, the SHOs have not shown special interest. It was also observed that in January, the performance remained dismal, except for a few police stations. This indicates that, apart from a few police stations, most SHOs did not focus on completing their targets.
In Rawal Division, where the number of absconders from Categories A and B exceeds 2,500, City police arrested two absconders, New Town, Ratta Amral, Ganjmadi and Bani police netted four each, Pirwadhai police apprehended nine, while Sadiqabad police and Waris Khan police hunted down 12 and 19 POs respectively.
In Pothohar Division, out of over 3,000 absconders, Cantt police arrested two, Arrah Bazaar police three, Westridge and Naseerabad police four each, Morgah police five, Taxila police eight, Race Course police 12, Civil Lines police 13, Airport police 16, while Saddar Wah Cantt police and Saddar Wah police arrested 11 and 16 absconders respectively.
In Saddar Division, out of more than 2,500 absconders, Chakri police netted three POs, Chontra police four, Kallar Syedan police five, Saddar Baironi police and Dhamial police six each, Jatli police eight, Rawat police and Kahota police 9 each, Mandra police 10, and Gujar Khan police arrested 11 absconders.
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