LARKANA: Sindh Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon has said that his department is working on a proposal with complete government support to raise ‘katcha police force’ dedicated to fighting criminals in the riverine belt along both sides of the Indus River.

The IGP told a press conference after presiding over a meeting of DIGs, SSPs, SP of special branch and CTD officials of Sukkur and Larkana range at SSP office here on Monday that under the proposal, the force would initially be 5,000 strong and would be deployed exclusively in riverine areas along both banks of Indus in four districts of Kashmore, Shikarpur, Sukkur and Ghotki.

Larkana DIG Mazhar Nawaz Shaikh had been tasked to work on the proposal and develop a policy paper. An officer of additional SP rank would head the force in each district, he said.

The DIG, who was focal person of the proposal, said that Kashmore and Ghotki districts would have 1,500 personnel each while Sukkur and Shikarpur would have 1,000 personnel each in the kathca force.

Tells senior police, intelligence and CTD officers the new force will be equipped with sophisticated weapons

The IGP said the force would be armed with latest weapons. A similar plan was conceived in 1979 as well, he said and expressed the hope that once the force was institutionalised it would bring an end to criminals’ activities in the riverine areas of the four districts. The Sindh government was fully supporting the idea, he said.

He said in answer to a question that criminal justice system had miserably failed and admitted that like police other pillars of the system must also realise their failure.

He conceded that police investigation system had weaknesses and the government was upgrading it by recruiting 2000 assistant sub-inspectors in the system. “We are focusing on specialisation in investigation,” he said.

He said the department was seeking a ‘permanent solution’ to the problem and the proposal would hopefully be okayed in the next budget.

Flanked by DIGs of Larkana, Sukkur and SSPs of both ranges the Sindh police, the IGP said the government had generously accepted all proposals put forth by the police department for capacity building.

He said the department had four challenges, terrorism, street crime, kidnapping for ransom and narcotics. Accessibility to the riverine area was a big hindrance, he said.

He said that if any outlaw wanted to surrender to the law he would be treated in accordance with the law but if he dared challenge the state he would have to face the full force of the government.

He said that any police officer found working in cahoots with criminals would have to face severe action as the deportment had adopted zero tolerance policy for such elements in police.

He referred to dismissal of 70 policemen, who were found having links with the

criminals, in a day by a police officer and said that pickets were established along the borders of Punjab and Balochistan to check criminals’ movement. The day was not far when Sindh police’s efforts would bear fruit, he said.

“We are launching intelligence-based operations against the criminals active in a small pocket on the right and left banks of Indus in Ghotki, Sukkur, Kashmore and Shikarpur. “We must assess the size of the problem. Police morale is high and I am confident police will wipe out the criminals from the katcha by working on the new strategy, he said.

The IGP said that 30 dacoits were killed, 143 were injured and 231 hardened criminals were arrested within four months.

He called for sensitising the society to the problem and urged media to adopt international standards in reporting on dacoits’ culture. The media should not glorify criminals, he said.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2023