LAHORE, June 27: Finding it difficult to locate criminals and terrorists on the run, the Punjab government has requested the Centre to allow it establish its own mobile phone tracking system.

“We have requested the prime minister to allow the province establish its own mobile tracking system to enable it nab criminals and terrorists,” Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan told Dawn on Thursday.

Officials said that only the security agencies had the facility to track down criminals and terrorists through their mobile phones. “We do request the agency to track down wanted persons but it takes too much time to get the information from it and pounce upon the outlaws,” a senior official said.

He said the lack of facility was rendering the provincial government unable to hunt down terrorists. “We are not even able to catch petty thieves and robbers,” he said.

The law minister said the prime minister had agreed to consider the request which the provincial government was preparing.

He said a permission was required from the federal government to import and install the sophisticated mobile tracking system.

Sources said that the Sindh High Court had already allowed the Sindh government install the system and Punjab was quoting the precedence in its request.