MUZAFFARABAD: In the light of the experience gained during the recent violent protests, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) police have raised a ‘special anti-riot force’ to cope with similar situations in future more effectively by employing the latest techniques

This was stated by AJK’s newly appointed Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rana Abdul Jabbar during his maiden media talk on Wednesday.

The new force consists of 500 personnel, aged between 20 and 30 years, who are undergoing a specialised training by master trainers from Punjab, he said.

“The idea behind raising this force is to ensure that a mob should not be handled by a mob (police) and that instead of might, psychological methods should be used to deal with a charged situation so as to mitigate the chances of loss on either side,” Mr Jabbar pointed out.

He said 100 members of this force would be stationed at each of the three divisional headquarters, rea­dy to be deployed by the DIGs concerned as and where required. The rema­ining 200 would serve as a backup force under the DIG Rangers and Reserves in Muzaffarabad, he added.

He said a two-day workshop would be organised for the district police chiefs to familiarise them as to how they have to utilise this special force.

The IGP said that deployment of civil armed forces and even the regular army personnel in support of pol­ice and civil administration was not something unusual in the country, including AJK. “The civil armed forces are invited to defuse the situation in a troubled area and are sent back after restoration of normalcy,” he said.

He said certain social me­dia accounts had been ide­ntified as sources of inc­itement during the recent rights movement in AJK.

In reply to a question about foreign involvement in the unrest, he said investigations were under way and added: “But you must bear in mind that where there is smoke, the enemy would definitely try to ignite fire.”

Ambiguity in cyber laws

The IGP highlighted the ambiguity in cyber laws regarding the prosecution of people misusing social media. “That still remains a grey area, and therefore consultations are going on at the federal and provincial levels about a requisite legislation to overcome this problem,” he said.

“You have to draw a line that a thing which is not based on facts and which leads to chaos and unrest must constitute an offence and its propagator should be liable to punishment,” he asserted.

Regarding the safe city project in AJK, he disclosed that the police department had initiated work on it in three major towns — Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot and Mirpur — in the first phase in keeping with the territory’s specific requirements.

He said a similar project was already operational in Muzaffarabad in the private sector, but the police department would establish it in the public sector to bring all entry points, checkposts and other strategic installations under digital surveillance.

Responding to a quest­ion about AJK’s counter-ter­rorism department (CTD), he acknowledged that currently it was in a rudimentary stage and lacked success stories like its counterpart organisation in Punjab.

However, following recent directives from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for its upgradation, a project had been submitted to the federal government for appointment of 500 personnel in the CTD.

He said surprise checks would be conducted to gather first-hand information on the performance of police personnel. “My doors will always be open for complainants. I will ensure that an inquiry into a complaint, even if it appears false, is conducted by no less than an officer of the rank of the SP.”

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024