ISLAMABAD: The capital police are facing shortage of staff and equipment to operate 25 police stations spread across the federal territory, including the city zone, hampering their ability to control crime rate.

As the population of the capital has burgeoned over the past several years, the authorities established three more police stations – Sangjani, Kirpa and Phulgran – to keep the crime in check. However, these police stations did not make any difference amid a shortage of police staff, relevant gear and buildings to house stations.

Out of 25 police stations, nine are without a sanctioned strength and have to rely on other stations to meet their needs, such as police officials and vehicles.

The nine aforementioned stations are Banigala, Khanna, Lohi Bher, Shams Colony, Karachi Company, Noon, Ramna, Kirpa and Sangjani.

Some police stations without own buildings, others operating from rented, occupied land

Similarly, the new police stations in Phulgran, Kirpa and Sangjani are operating from Bhara Kahu, Koral and Tarnol police stations, respectively, as the authorities concerned have failed to arrange buildings for the task.

On the other hand, Khanna and Lohi Bher police stations are constructed on occupied land, including the green belt, whereas Banigala police station does not have a proper building. The building it is housed in is located in the jurisdiction of Shahzad Town police station.

Shams Colony police station is established in a leased building while Nilore police station is operating from a factory.

City zone

In this zone, there are seven police stations and four chowkis. Out of these, five police stations have a sanctioned strength of 669 and only 408 personnel are available to perform duties across the city zone.

Aabpara police station has a strength of 55 officials out of the total approved strength of 200; Secretariat police station has 48 officials out of sanctioned strength of 101; Kohsar police station has 63 policemen instead of 200 while Bhara Kahu has 49 personnel out of the sanctioned strength of 102.

According to officials, the women police station is the only station that has excess strength of 81 officials compared to the approved strength of 66.

Banigala and Phulgran have no sanctioned strength, but 56 and 43 officials are working there, respectively.

Similarly, there is no sanctioned strength for chowkis in Bari Imam, Pir Sohawa, Malpur and Monal, but six, two, two and three policemen perform duties at these sites, respectively.

Rural zone

Rural zone also grapples with strength issues as out of seven police stations, only four have a sanctioned strength of 406 personnel but only 368 officials were performing duties across the zone.

Shahzad Town has 49 policemen out of the total sanctioned strength of 102; Sihala police station has 60 officials instead of the sanctioned 101; Koral has 63 police officials out of the approved 102 and Nilore has 47 officials performing duties at the station instead of the sanctioned strength of 101.

Even though they have not been allotted their own staff, Khanna, Lohi Bher and Kirpa have been allotted 59, 45 and 38 personnel.

Likewise, Chowki Rawat and Chowki DHA Phase-I have also been given a force of four and three, respectively, even though there is no sanctioned strength for them, the officials added.

Industrial Area zone

Only 250 officials are performing duties in the zone against an approved strength of 300 officials for two police stations: Sabzi Mandi and Industrial Area police stations.

There is no sanctioned strength for Shams Colony and Noon, but they have manpower of 50 and 68, respectively, borrowed from other police stations.

Saddar zone

The Saddar zone, comprising seven police stations and three chowkis, has a force of 413 police personnel against the sanctioned strength of 563.

According to officials, only four police stations have a sanctioned strength i.e. Margalla, Shalimar, Golra and Tarnol. Ramna, Karachi Company and Sangjani police stations have no sanctioned strength, however, 61, 58, and 43 personnel are performing duties at these stations, respectively.

Chowki G-12, Chowki G-13 and Chowki D-12 have a staff of three, eight and seven, respectively, but they have no allotted strength.

The sanctioned strength of the capital police is about 11,634, the officers said, adding that there were 1,951 seats lying vacant in the department.

Despite the availability of eligible officials from constable to SI ranks in the capital police, the officers concerned stopped the process of departmental

promotions and requested staff from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan, on deputation.

So far, the capital police bigwigs have not received a proper response possibly due to a difference between the pay structure of the capital and the provincial police departments, they added.

Police Public Relation Branch Chief Deputy Inspector General Headquarters Awais Ahmed confirmed that Shams Colony police station was based in a rented building while Lohi Bher was housed in an occupied building.

He also added that Banigala and Khanna had no proper buildings while the staffers of Kirpa, Sangjani and Phulgran police stations were working out of other police stations.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2022