Karachi needs enhanced number of policemen: Rangers DG

High-quality cameras have to be installed all over the city to easily identify the culprits, said DG

KARACHI (Dunya News) – Director General Pakistan Rangers Sindh Maj. Gen. Mohammad Saeed has stressed that Karachi needs enhanced number of policemen who must also be fully equipped with modern technologies so that they could efficiently maintain law & order situation of a city with a huge population.

Speaking at a meeting during his visit to the Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, DG Rangers added that under Safe City Project, high-quality cameras have to be installed all over the city to easily identify and apprehend the culprits while tracker enabled chip-based number plates for vehicles/ motorcycles have to be provided which, if implemented, would surely bring down the street crimes. “The first fundamental requirement is to enhance the number of policemen and install cameras. Secondly, everyone has to participate in order to resolve law and order issues”, he added.

Chairman Businessmen Group & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, Vice Chairman BMG Haroon Farooki, President KCCI Junaid Esmail Makda, Senior Vice President Khurram Shahzad, Vice President Asif Sheikh Javaid, Former Presidents AQ Khalil, Majyd Aziz, Iftikhar Ahmed Vohra, Younus Muhammad Bashir and Shamim Ahmed Firpo along with KCCI Managing Committee Members attended the meeting.

DG Rangers pointed out that Karachi has a total of just 31,000 policemen and 110 police stations, of which only 14,000 policemen were available to CCPO on any given day with no helicopter fleet, no forensic labs and no other specialized force. This mere number of police force was responsible to maintain law and order situation of a city which has remained out of state’s writ for a period of 35 to 40 years.

“Rangers force comprises of 12,000 troops, of which 5,000 are fixed deployed at the Airport, Consulates, Strategic Installations, Rangers Pickets and Red Zone who cannot be moved. Excluding the Admin Staff, Pakistan Rangers Sindh hardly has 4,000 troops available and it was these 4,000 troops who cleansed Karachi from terrorists and criminals during the last 5 years and they deserve to be acknowledged.

In order to effectively deal with car and motorcycle theft and snatching incidents, DG Rangers stressed the need to introduce tracker enabled chip-based number plates for vehicles/ motorcycles so that these could be linked to Centralized Registration Data Bank which, if interfaced with NADRA and RFID system, would help in easily identifying the owners of vehicles/ motorcycles and also enable police and rangers to monitor the movement of vehicles.

He said that as motorcycles are used in most of the criminal activities, it should be made mandatory for motorcycle manufacturers to put in-built trackers in their motorcycles as done in many cities around the world and also in Lahore. With an in-built tracker installed on every motorcycle and cameras all over the city, it would be easy for law enforcing agencies to quickly arrest criminals, he added.

Chairman BMG & Former President KCCI Siraj Kassam Teli, in his remarks, said that the law and order situation was much better as compared to what it had been before 2013 which was only due to strong voice raised by KCCI against rising lawlessness and the demand for Karachi Operation in which Rangers played the lead role.

While paying glowing tribute to Rangers for restoring peace in Karachi, Chairman BMG said that 90 percent of Karachi has changed and now the remaining 10 percent which mainly includes the street crimes have to be tackled. “The overall situation in Karachi is much better as compared to some of the developed cities around the world including Tokyo, London and New York etc. where street crimes are much higher. It’s a never ending quest as street crimes simply cannot be brought to zero therefore, we will continue to keep on pushing the government and LEAs to devise strategies for improving the situation”, he added.

Siraj Teli further pointed out that 35 percent of the appointments in police department were based on political affiliation in the past and the Karachi Chamber has been constantly demanding to depoliticize police. Some improvement has been witnessed nowadays because the recent recruitments in police were being done on the basis of merit and the training was being imparted by Rangers and the Army but what about the old recruitments done on the basis of political affiliations, he asked and underscored the need for capacity building of police including availability of best possible equipment and training.

He was of the opinion that it was not Rangers’ job to maintain peace on daily basis and ultimately, police will have to maintain the law and order situation therefore the police department has to be made strong, perfect and should not be politically affiliated.

He further asked DG rangers to create some kind of link between KCCI and Rangers or nominate any focal person in Pakistan Rangers Sindh who could be contacted for resolving the issues being faced by the members of Karachi Chamber.

Siraj Teli further stated that the very fabric of our society’s culture is ruined as it is usually observed on the streets every day that whenever an accident occurs, the individual driving an expensive or a bigger car is blamed for the collision while the other person either on a bike or an inexpensive car is deemed to be faultless regardless of considering the actual circumstances, the law and examining the reasons behind the accident.

He said that this is the mindset of our society and the same is reflected in the lower courts where things work in the same way. It is really unfortunate that cases are not being decided on the basis of merit and the judges immediately hold the well-off responsible in many cases. “We have brought this issue to the notice of Honorable Chief Justice of Pakistan and would like to request you to also highlight this issue on any available platform so that corrections could be done”, he added.

Earlier, while welcoming DG Rangers, President KCCI Junaid Ismail Makda expressed deep concerns over rising street crimes which remain a serious issue, posing threat to growth and prosperity of Karachi. To effectively deal with street crimes, a realistic strategy has to be defined and stringent measures have to be taken by Pakistan Rangers Sindh to strictly deal with culprits behind street crimes, he added.

He was of the opinion that high incidence of crimes should also be dealt with on urgent basis to a level that even the foreigners could roam around in the city without any fear. “We are still far away from this situation and there is a lot of work to be done. The efforts to completely restore peace in Karachi should be further enhanced to make it a city comparable to other mega cities of the world”, he stressed.