Law and order: Amn Committees be made functional, says Shahbaz

Chief minister orders installation of CCTV cameras at worship places.

LAHORE:

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered on Tuesday that Amn (peace) Committees be made functional at tehsil, district and provincial levels to help improve security across the province.

He was speaking at a meeting to review the law and order situation in the province that he chaired.

“The committees, in collaboration with locals and police, will look after security arrangements in their jurisdictions. These will also monitor security arrangements at mosques,” one of the officials who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune.



The chief minister ordered that CCTV cameras be installed at all worship places. He said protection of life and property was the government’s prime responsibility. “Police should do their best to maintain order in the province.”

Home Minister Shuja Khanzada, Finance Minister Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, MPA Rana Sanaullah, Syed Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Chief Minister’s Special Assistant Rana Maqbool Ahmed, the chief secretary and the IGP attended the meeting.

Condemnation

Sharif condemned Tuesday’s suicide attack near Police Lines in Qila Gujjar Singh. Expressing his grief, he ordered that those injured in the bombing be given proper medical care. He sought a report on the attack from the IGP.

The chief minister announced a compensation of Rs500,000 each for the families of deceased, Rs75,000 for those injured seriously and Rs25,000 for those who had received minor wounds.

“Such cowardly acts of terrorists cannot undermine the nation’s resolve to fight terrorism. Time has come to give a strong reply to terrorists who do not even deserve to be called humans,” he said.

‘Improve security’

The provincial government on Tuesday directed the district administrations and the police to improve security arrangements at major public and private buildings in their jurisdiction.

A circular issued by the Home Department stated that security improvement had been ordered at educational institutes, government offices, police lines, jails, offices of non-government organisations (NGOs) and government officers’ residences. It sought a report on the improved security arrangements by the district administrations and police within 72 hours.

The circular was issued after a National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) report stated that more terrorist attacks in the province could not be ruled out.

It was addressed to regional police officers, district police officers, district commissioners and district coordination officers.

Home Secretary Maj (r) Azam Suleman said high security zones had been established around the civil secretariat, the Chief Minister’s house, the Governor’s House and the United States consulate general. He said directions had also been issued for improved security arrangements at major mosques in the city.

He said the NCMC report particularly mentioned Lahore, Multan, Gujranwala Muzaffargarh and Rawalpindi as potential targets of the terrorists.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2015.