August 04, 2008	Monday	Sha'aban 1 429

KARACHI, Aug 3: The city police chief has ordered the three zonal police chiefs in the city to take immediate and strict action against gambling dens, it is learnt.

Sources said that an order to this effect was given a couple of days ago in the wake of the probe into the murder of Khalid Shahenshah, who was stated to be linked with the gangland.

They said that a row among gangsters to take control of certain gambling dens might be linked with the assassination of the chief security officer of the co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, Asif Ali Zardari.

The sources said that the CCPO issued orders of strict action against criminal dens following serious concerns expressed by the Sindh home minister, Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, over the ‘lack of interest on part of senior police officers to deal with the menace’.

However, the Capital City Police Officer, DIG Waseem Ahmed, told Dawn that the police officers had been asked to take action against all types of criminal dens. “I have been consistently receiving the complaints of organised gambling and other crime dens allegedly being run under the protection and patronage of local police in every town,” he added.

He said that conflicts between various gangs of criminals resulted into violent crimes. “The battles for turf have created a sense of insecurity amongst the public and it has also brought a bad name to the police,” he added.

Meanwhile, sources said that the DIGs of the three zones had ordered the SPs in their respective areas to make a list of all the crime dens of narcotics, alcohol, prostitution and gambling operating in the vicinities within their jurisdictions. They said that the relevant SPs had been asked to take immediate steps to eliminate the dens.

The sources said that special teams would also be constituted to monitor the progress of actions taken by the SHOs. They said that the city police chief had also directed the zonal police chiefs to immediately initiate departmental proceedings against the officers who were involved in criminal activities.

The sources said that a monitoring cell under the DIG of investigation had also been formed to review the progress of the three police zones. They said the CCPO would hold weekly meetings with the DIGs to review the progress.

The sources said that the city police chief also warned the zonal police heads that he would send special raiding teams to the crime dens if they failed to deliver. They said that the relevant DIG would be held responsible if a crime den was found in his area.

The sources said that the CCPO also warned the DIGs that reports of their performance in this regard would also be sent to the government.