Crackdown: 58 arrested, arms worth Rs4m seized

DIG Saleem said the operation was carried out jointly by teams from the Police Investigation and CIA

LAHORE: Arms worth Rs4 million were seized and 58 people arrested in a city-wide crackdown on unlicensed weapons, Investigation DIG Rana Ayyaz Saleem told the media on Friday.  The weapons seized during the raids included seven Kalashnikov rifles, 13 nine mm and 54 other rifles. DIG Saleem said the operation was carried out jointly by teams from the Police Investigation and Crime Investigation Agency on directives of the CCPO. Besides the crackdown on unlicensed weapons, he said the police were also working to improve speed of completion of investigation. He said reforms introduced in the department to transform the culture of policing had started bearing fruit. He said investigating officers had been strictly warned against seeking funds from people visiting the stations with for registration of complaints. “Officers have been directed to contact the police headquarters to get paid for expenses incurred on raids carried out during investigation of cases,” he said.  He said measures introduced to improve police performance included surprise visits to investigation centres.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20^th, 2015.