Curbing terrorism: ‘Counter-terror stations to start probes in two weeks’

Second batch of CTF force comprising 424 corporals graduate in a ceremony at Elite Force training centre.

LAHORE:

Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Sukhera said on Saturday that five recently established Counter Terrorism Department police stations will start investigation of terrorism cases within two weeks.  He said these stations had been set up in Lahore, Gujranwala, Faislalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi districts.

He was speaking at the passing out ceremony of the second batch of the Counter Terrorism Force (CTF) comprising 424 corporals, of which 401 were men and 23 women.

He said like the Pakistan Army and various law enforcement agencies in the country, the Police Department was fully prepared to combat terrorism.

He said with the graduation of 424 more corporals, the CTF strength now stood at 1,180 officials. He said the second batch had graduated after a nine-month training programme that covered intelligence collection, operations and investigation. He said the training was overseen by experts from the Army and from other countries.

He said the force had been equipped with the latest weapons and trained in the use of information technology.

He said a refresher courses programme had already been designed for CTF corporals to ensure that they continued to be equipped with latest counter terrorism techniques.

Answering questions after his address, the IGP said no innocent person would be penalised in the Youhanabad lynching incident. He said only those found involved in the incident would be taken to a court for a trial.

The ceremony, where Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif was the chief guest, also included a demonstration of skills by the new graduates.

The chief minister congratulated the graduates and said that he expected them to lead the fight against terrorism in the province. He said the establishment of the CTF was undertaken in view of the need for a dedicated force to combat terrorism.

He said countries like Turkey, Sri Lanka and Indonesia had successfully combated terrorist organisations. He said he was confident that Pakistan would very soon get rid of the menace of terrorism. “Officers of the Army, police and other government agencies have performed great deeds in the fight against terrorist organisations operating in the country,” he said.

Home Minister Col (Retd) Shuja Khanzada, the home secretary and the Rangers director general also attended the ceremony.

CTD police stations

A senior police official told The Express Tribune that 45 per cent of the CTF corporals would be assigned intelligence collection duties.

He said the remaining would take care of the day-to-day operations and investigation-related tasks.

The five CTD police stations are each operating in three-storey buildings with a covered area of two-and-a-half kanal. Each station has four watch towers and space for offices of SPs, DSPs, SHOs and IOs and barracks that can accommodate up to 50 corporals. Each station has eight lock-ups which are monitored round the clock using surveillance cameras.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 5^th, 2015.