KARACHI: As security threats loom over the law-enforcement agencies, the alarming trend has not even spared the Karachi traffic police, whose authorities have ordered shifting of traffic police posts in the central and west districts to the respective police stations and armed each personnel in the facility in the east district following multiple attacks on traffic police posts, it emerged on Sunday.

Sources and officials privy to the recent development said that the move was part of overall security arrangements and measures taken by the Sindh police authorities. The traffic police mainly in the west and central districts had moved their posts to nearby police stations abandoning their own concrete structures mostly built along the main roads, they added.

“It has been done for security reasons,” said DIG of traffic Arif Hanif. “The exercise is being carried out mainly in two districts — west and central — where we have witnessed a few attacks on traffic police posts and in these assaults we have also lost our men.”

When asked about any proposal to arm traffic police officials following the attacks for better security arrangements, he said an armed official had been deputed in each traffic police post which had not been shifted to police stations like many in district east.

“The nature of job of a traffic official doesn’t suit him to be armed,” said DIG Hanif. “He remains constantly and physically engaged in performing his job on roads. So the idea to arm an official, who is involved in such kind of job would not work in any way. We have, however, provided arms to the police post which are still operational.”

Apart from frequent attacks on police and Rangers, the city has also witnessed similar assaults on traffic officials in recent months. In January, two traffic policemen were gunned down in an attack on traffic police post near Sohrab Goth.

Similarly, in August 2013, a traffic police officer and a constable were killed in a gun attack on a traffic police post near the Lasbela traffic intersection that also left their two colleagues wounded. The situation set alarm bells ringing in the quarters concerned.

The traffic DIG argued that the ‘best possible’ measures were being taken, which would help bring about positive results to a large extent.

“The level of threat is the same for every man engaged with law-enforcement. We are taking best possible measures and we believe it would help offer a sense of security to our men to a great extent which would ultimately affect their performance positively,” he said.