THATTA: Hyderabad Deputy Inspector-General Dr Sanaullah Abbasi has urged the provincial police chief to consider a sizeable increase in the police force to manage the security affairs of districts in the interior of Sindh. He has also called for necessary amendments to the police rules in view of the situation obtaining across the province.

The DIG through a letter (GB/SNE/2232-41) to the IGP referred to a huge number of police personnel spared for the VVIP and VIP escort duties as well as special security duties in the backdrop of increasing terrorist attacks in the country and rising crime graph in the province.

Arguing that efficient policing in the Hyderabad range was not possible owing to a small police force at his disposal to control crime, the DIG said a sizeable increase in personnel had become inevitable to cater to the security requirements of all districts falling within the Hyderabad range where population had registered an increase of three million. He made mention of the recent relocation of people from upper Sindh in this regard and observed that the number of registered crimes also showed a big rise.

Dr Abbasi said that the chapter 2.2 (2) of the Police Rules 1934 pertaining to the comparative policing requirement of a district in accordance with its population stated that “supervision over watch and ward staff shall be provided at the rate of one head-constable to every 10 constables; one ASI to every five head constables, one SI to every 100 constables; two upper subordinates, one head-constable and 12 foot constables are required to deal with every 75 cases registered at a police station...”. The DIG stated that the ratio prescribed in the rules did not matched the standards maintained in developed countries of the world.

He said that the nine districts falling within the Hyderabad police range (Hyder­abad, Dadu, Jam­shoro, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Tando Mohammed Khan, Tando Allahyar and Matiari) had a population of 12.127 million and reported a total of 11,376 criminal cases in 2013.

The DIG strongly recommended the SNE soldier network extension and called for an early approval of the proposed police strength for better crime management and effective policing in the Hyderabad range.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2014