KARACHI, June 9: A fresh batch of nine horses has joined the meagre strength of seven old horses as a first step towards reviving the mounted police unit of the city police.

Earlier, the mounted police had only seven horses — four perform duties at the airport on the area surrounding the tarmac, and three are stationed in Clifton, from where they patrol the main Clifton road in the evening onwards.

Aged from three to four-and-a-half years and purchased in Dera Ismail Khan, the horses are undergoing training following their arrival in the first week of May.

Around 35 horses are yet to be delivered from the army farm of Mona Depot in Sargodha. It would be at least four to five months before these horses could fully perform their policing duties on city roads, an official of the mounted police unit said.

These nine horses would soon be castrated by a qualified doctor. The healing process would take at least two months before the horses were back in full action, the officer explained. As part of the training, these horses would be conditioned to bear with the traffic noise, face mob situations and perform VIP duties.

Each horse would be given a proper name with a proper service book. Like the hiring process of a constable, whose chest is measured to see his physical fitness, measurements are also made of these horses as part of the paperwork. With the rising inflation, the cost of maintaining the mounted police unit has also surged and the old rates and allowances prescribed for the horses need to be revised, observed an officer.

The Sindh police have already made an advance payment for the horses. These horses are to be delivered some time in the last week of May or first week of June. However, so far there has been no indication from the Army Depot about an early delivery of horses.

With the passage of time, the mounted police have been confined only to a ceremonial role but they still perform field duties, where other means cannot be employed. According to the ‘Police Rules 1934’, the “chief uses of mounted police are (a) organized operations against mobile gangs of criminals, (b) patrolling for the prevention of dacoities, highways robbery and the like, (c) the control of crowds and dispersal of disorderly mobs, (d) assistance to the foot police in traffic control, (e) process serving, message carrying and escort duty where conditions are suitable”.

After 18 years the mounted police staged a comeback in Lahore when its units patrolled The Mall and in the Liberty Market, where they were greeted by shoppers with amused smiles in the year 2006.

The official website of the Punjab police still glorifies the mounted police unit as its picture is hosted at its homepage. The mounted police were first set up by the governor of New South Wales in 1825 to tackle growing violence. After the success of these units, the service was replicated by the British Empire in all its colonies.