KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was informed on Friday that work on the much-awaited Karachi Safe City Project was going on and the first shipment of surveillance cameras and the poles on which the cameras would be installed with a complete solar-powered solution would reach the metropolis from China soon.

The CM was given this refining at a meeting held to review the progress of the Safe City Project, operations against dacoit gangs in the riverine area and street criminals in Karachi and strengthening the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) here at the CM House on Friday.

The CM was told that the CCTV cameras would be shipped from China to Pakistan on June 30 and the poles with the complete solar solution will be brought from Lahore to Karachi by the end of next week.

Fibre optic cable with allied accessories had been procured and right of way (ROW) for 80 priority sites had been applied for. However, excavation and digging will start immediately after obtaining ROW.

Murad reviews progress of operation against dacoit gangs in riverine area and street criminals in Karachi

To a question, the CM was told that 30 per cent of the networking equipment would reach Karachi by June 26 and the remaining 70pc would be shipped from China on June 30.

The four-by-four emergency response vehicles (ERVs) are available in Karachi with communication equipment installed in them. However, more ERVs will be moved from National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation headquarters in Haripur to Karachi with mobile surveillance equipment next week.

The CM said that the police had started patrolling in the city, but it must be intensified further. Intelli­gence-based operations against the street criminals and drug mafia also needed to be strengthened further, he said.

Mr Shah directed the Home & Law Minister Zia Lanjar to prosecute street criminals properly. “I want them [street criminals] languishing in the jails,” he said and directed the IG police Ghulam Nabi Memon to make a list of all the street criminals and share it with other agencies and all the police stations so that they could be arrested.

The IG said street crime had been brought down but still needed to be controlled further.

Operation against riverine area gangs

The chief minister was informed that experienced SSPs had been posted to Shikarpur, Ghotki, and Kashmore districts to enhance the effectiveness of the anti-dacoit operations in the katcha area. Around 200 RRF personnel or 14 platoons had been deployed in the area for the operation whereas police and Rangers were conducting intelligence-based joint operations.

The CM directed the IG police to conduct special training of the policemen participating in the operation in the riverine areas. At this the IG Police told the CM that training had been started and they were using light weapons like pistols, and MP-5s and heavy weapons like SMG and G3 Rifles in the training.

Mr Lanjar told the CM that to combat criminals in the katcha area and provide aerial support to the police troops engaged in the operation against gangs of criminals, the police had procured 14 drones for the affected districts, that is, Sukkur, Ghotki, Kashmore and Shikarpur. He requested the CM for approval to procure more drones for the police.

The CM approved the procurement of 20 more drones with a detection range of two km from Wah Industries. He directed the IG police to provide training to policemen for operating drones.

The CM was told that the policemen participating in the operation against the dacoits had been trained in sniper shooting.

Regional complexes for CTD

The CM said that he had approved Rs2.8 billion to construct regional complexes for CTD at Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and Larkana. He directed IG Police to speed up work on the construction of the buildings.

The IG police told the CM that software and forensic tools had been acquired and installed at the CTD Centre, Karachi. He said that the CTD fusion centre was ready with seven software. The CM said he had already released Rs400 million out of the Rs783 million approved. The IGP said that the funds were utilised for procurement of the software and other equipment.

The CM said that he would visit the CTD centre to witness the performance functions of the software and forensic tools.

The home minister told the CM that the follow-up of counter terrorism cases in courts had improved considerably, leading to better convictions.

A special prosecutor had also been posted in CTD Karachi for the first time. At this, the CM directed the minister to post dedicated special prosecutors at CTD Hyderabad and Sukkur to oversee the cases of interior Sindh.

The CM was told that in 2023, there were only seven convictions while this year, 2-24 11 convictions have been made.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2024