LAHORE: A 17-member committee is meeting on Wednesday (today) to devise a work plan for the merger of the Border Military Police (BMP) and the Baloch Levy into the Punjab police.

Headed by Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, the committee will deliberate on the long-awaited proposal that is being materialised to bring apparently “inaccessible” tribal areas of DG Khan and Rajanpur in the Punjab police jurisdiction to get rid of gangs of criminals, particularly Ladi gang, operating there for the last 20 years or so.

An official privy to the development told Dawn that the tribal belt covered 10,000 square kilometre areas of two districts and was under the direct administrative control of the Punjab home department. He said the tribal areas were being manned by the BMP and the BL which were headed by a political assistant whose authority was equal to that of a deputy commissioner.

The 52 per cent of Dera Ghazi Khan’s territory consisted of many tribes where police had never been allowed by influential heads of tribes and local landlords to fulfill their responsibilities.

The official said DG Khan remained in the spotlight when Ladi gang started criminal activities with the alleged support of heads of the tribal areas, mostly senior politicians (Sardars) who were sitting in provincial and federal assemblies. Recently, a massive operation was launched against the gang when it killed two persons and kidnapped some policemen in the hilly areas of DG Khan.

Previously, the proposal was dropped when heads of tribal areas strongly opposed it. This time a serious attempt had been made due to the involvement of Prime Minister Imran Khan who visited south Punjab, held meetings and directed the provincial government to give complete control of the DG Khan and Rajanpur to the police.

The Punjab government constituted a committee to evolve mechanism for gradual merger of the BMP and the BL into the Punjab police and posting of Commandant Baloch Levy of DG Khan and Rajanpur respectively.

“The commandant shall be a police officer of rank of SP from the Punjab police who will take control of the tribal areas of both districts,” according to an official document.

The members of the committee are Punjab Livestock Minister Hasnain Bahadar Dreshak, Deputy Speaker Sardar Dost Mohammad Mazari, irrigation minister Mohammad Mohsin Leghari, MPAs Ahmed Ali Dareshak, Khwaja Mohammad Daud Sulemani, Javed Akhtar, the additional chief secretary home (Punjab), the additional chief secretary (South Punjab), IGP Rao Sardar Ali Khan, local government and communication secretary Noorul Amin Mengal, DG Khan regional police officer Faisal Rana, DG Khan’s ex-political assistant Hamza Salik, and deputy commissioners of both DG Khan and Rajanpur besides representatives of tribal elders.

The letter said the IG would brief the meeting on the plan for the merger for effective law enforcement in both Koh-e-Suleman tehsil and areas of Rajanpur. It said the DG Khan RPO and commissioner would brief the committee on the ways to evolve a comprehensive plan by extending footprint of the Punjab police and the Counter Terrorism Department under existing laws.

“They shall also share the proposed legal framework for replacement of BMP/BL Act with the Police Act for paving the way for regular in/out of merged BMP/Baluch Levis individuals to whole province in line with the Punjab police,” reads the letter.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2021