RAWALPINDI, July 9: The Inspector-General of Police of Punjab has directed all deputy inspectors-general (DIGs) of police to launch inter- range joint operations to hunt down proclaimed offenders and to check crime. The IGP, Punjab, Ziaul Hassan, issued the directive at a top level conference of police officers held on Saturday ahead of a meeting on law and order called by Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for Monday in Lahore.

Senior superintendents of police (SSPs) of the province will brief the chief minister on police performance and report to him the progress made investigating high profile cases.

The IGP’s spokesman, Abdul Rauf, said the provincial police chief asked his officers to prepare a database of criminals by putting their finger prints and photographs in computers.

IGP Hassan warned that the police officers who create problems for the victims of crimes and refuse to register FIRs, especially of crimes against women, would not go unpunished.

Officers should not hesitate to register FIRs for fear that a larger number of FIRs would reflect a higher crime rate, he remarked. The meeting decided to constitute a special squad under Additional IGP, Investigation, Irfan Mehmood, for investigating kidnapping for ransom cases on top priority, according to the spokesman.