PESHAWAR - Chief Capital City Police Ejaz Khan has said the incidents of terrorism are considerably dropped in the provincial metropolis and rest parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after successful military operations in tribal agencies.
Talking to media persons after attending a cards distribution ceremony among journalists here, the city police chief said that in contrast to 2013, there has been a sizeable reduction in terrorism-related incidents in the province during the current year. He especially credited to launch of the ongoing military operations Khyber-One and Zarb-i-Azb for decreasing terrorism acts in Peshawar and other parts of KP. The ceremony was jointly organised by the Peshawar Press Club and Khyber Union of Journalist (KhUJ) at the press club, which was attended by PPC President Nasir Hussain, General Secretary Fida Adeel, KHUJ President Nisar Mehmood, Mohammad Naeem and a large number of journalists.
When asked about the continuously extortion and targeted killing in Peshawar, the CCPO said the tendency of extortion has been also reduced to some extent, as number of gangs have been arrested with the support of other law enforcement agencies. He said police force is constantly taking steps to fully eliminate extortion and targeted killing the provincial capital.
To a question about the presence of Islamic State (IS) militants in Peshawar, he said that there was no IS militants network, saying that wall chalking in some areas in provincial capital was appeared but the militant wing was not operating in Peshawar.
Earlier, addressing at the card distribution ceremony, Ejaz Khan lauded the initiative of Peshawar Press Club and Khyber Union of Journalists, which he said would help only genuine working journalists to address grievances and problems being faced by them during the professional obligations in the provincial capital. He recalled the some unpleasant incidents between journalists and police personnel had happened in the past due to misunderstanding and now with the issuing of special cards to journalists for security would helpful build a well-coordinated liaison between them
The CCPO lauded the journalists’ community along with businessmen and common people for their active role in maintenance of law and order and establishment of peace in the provincial capital. Despite receiving threats calls, and intimidation, he viewed the journalists continued their professional duties, which is commendable and well appreciable.
Unfortunately, he said that some people in the garb of journalists are indulging to defame genuine members of the community. So, he expressed the hope that with effective coordination with the Peshawar Press Club and KhUJ, action would be taken against fake journalists. Later, CCPO Ejaz Khan distributed cards among members of KhUJ.