LAHORE - Punjab Police Inspector General Arif Nawaz Khan on Tuesday ordered the regional and district police officers to pay surprise visits to police stations in order to check police working.

The police chief expressed his displeasure over the overloading in police prison vans and poor cleanliness situation at police stations of Lahore. He said that a departmental action should be taken against the responsible of officials over such mismanagement.

The IGP said the cleanliness drive including the paint-work at police buildings must be completed by September 1 across the province. “I will personally pay surprise visits to different police stations across Punjab and especially in Lahore and in case there is no record found about the visit of officers for inspection, the relevant officers will be held accountable,” the IGP warned.

The provincial police chief issued these directions while presiding over a meeting at the Central Police Office on Tuesday. Punjab Additional-IG (Operations) Inam Ghani, Lahore CCPO BA Nasir, DIG (Operations) Ashfaq Ahmad Khan, and DIG (Investigation) Inam Waheed Khan were also present on this occasion.

IGP Arif Nawaz Khan also directed the officers to write down the details of their visits to police stations in the record books as well. The officials posted at police stations should not be deployed on other duties, the IGP said. He also directed the officers to speed up crackdown on drug peddlers and send back the performance reports to the central police office on weekly basis. The police chief said the land grabbers and their supporting elements deserve no leniency and officers delaying action against land grabbers and their supporters will also face action.

Meanwhile, Country Head of British national crime agency Usman Ahmad along with Punjab IGP Arif Nawaz Khan presented shields to former DPO Nankana Naveed Ahmad and Constable Sikandar Hayat for capturing a convict Akhlaq Hussain from Sangla Hill. The accused was convicted in child abuse cases in Britain. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of sodomy in Britain but he fled Britain and reached Pakistan. The accused was hiding in Pakistan for the last several years, a police spokesman said.

The Punjab Police arrested the accused from district Nankana and handed him over to FIA.

The Country Head of the British National Crime Agency also visited different sections of the Central Police Office and paid special thanks to Punjab Police Chief Arif Nawaz Khan. Issues of mutual interest were discussed in the meeting. On this occasion, the IGP said that there is no tolerance and leniency for persons involved in heinous crimes of sodomy, child abuse, kidnapping, torture and other crimes and steps are being ensured to eliminate such criminals from the society. He said that modern scientific means and modern investigation tools are being utilized for investigation of incidents like sexual abuse and murders so that real culprits could be identified and brought to justice.

IGP TAKES NOTICE OF CHILD MURDER

Punjab IGP Arif Nawaz Khan on Tuesday took notice of the murder of a 12-year-old boy in district Rahim Yar Khan and directed the district police officer to submit a detailed report of the incident.

According to the initial police investigations, the incident took place July 22 and an FIR was registered on the complaint of the father of the victim. The deceased identified as Meer Muhammad was murdered by Abdul Latif and his accomplices. According to DPO Rahim Yar Khan, the post mortem report revealed that the child was strangled and there was no evidence of sodomy.

The district police officer claimed that four suspects including the one nominated in the FIR were arrested by police following the killing. The IGP also directed DPO Rahim Yar Khan to ensure arrest of other nominated accused within 72 hours and complete the investigation of the case under his own supervision.