CHINIOT: The police have launched “Village Eye” mobile application to keep any eye on criminal activities in rural areas with the help of lumberdars who will provide information regarding suspects and any suspicious activities in their villages to the local police station.

Faisalabad Regional Police Officer (RPO) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said this while addressing a meeting of lumberdars of various villages of the district here at a local hall.

The RPO said the police department was taking innovative steps to combat crime through community policing and involvement of stakeholders.

Lumberdars, he said, had a key role in a village and police wanted to enhance the coordination with them to use that important institution for fighting crime.

Through the smart phone application, that can be downloaded from google Play Store, lumberdars would inform police hierarchy, including SHO, DSP, DPO and RPO about drug peddling, criminal’s hideouts and presence of proclaimed offenders at a village.

The RPO said the SHOs were bound to take immediate action on the information provided by lumberdars and he would personally monitor whether any action was taken on such information.

He also directed all the SHOs to keep a regular liaison with lumberdars and give them due respect in police stations.

The meeting was also addressed by District Police Officer Syed Hasnain Haider and Deputy Commissioner Tariq Khan Niazi.

Later, the RPO chaired the Peace Committee meeting and urged its members to play an active role in maintaining peace and harmony in the city. He also highlighted role of district bar; press club, traders bodies etc in this regard.

ARRESTED: A so-called faith healer (pir) was arrested by Muhammad Wala police for sexual harassment and torture on the complaint of a woman who approached him to get cured of persistent headache.

The complainant ‘S’, wife of Muhammad Manzoor, a resident of Lalian town, stated in the FIR that she had been suffering from severe headache for many days and was told by someone that Pir Umar Hayat, who runs a seminary -- Madressah Ramzanul Qamar -- heals such pain through incantation (dum) at Tarkhanawala village.

She said that she went to the seminary where she was taken to a separate room where Umar Hayat allegedly tried to molest her. When she offered resistance, the suspect started beating her with a rod.

She was rescued by her husband after she raised an alarm.

Later, she reported the matter to Muhammad Wala police that registered a case against the suspect under sections 419, 420, 354 and 337–L-(2) and arrested him.

However, the suspect denied the allegations saying he only wanted to exorcise the woman who was possessed by “Jinns”.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2019