HYDERABAD: Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Syed Kaleem Imam has said that a proper internal accountability system exists in the police department and the media should find out whether such a system exists in any other department.

In this regard, he mentioned that around 20,000 punishments were awarded to policemen. Alluding to Hyderabad AIG Ghulam Sarwar Jamali’s instance, the IG said that police leadership had even punished an officer of this high a rank as well as a DIG and an SSP.

He was speaking to media personnel in the office of the Matiari SSP on Tuesday. AIG Dr Waliullah Dal, DIG Naeem Shaikh, SSP Adeel Chandio and Asif Bughio were also present.

IG Imam said that condition of police stations needed attention. He pointed out that of 598 police stations in the province, 355 were repaired and this year another 111 police stations would be repaired in order to improve the working environment.

‘High-ranking officers like AIG, DIG and DSP also face accountability’

He disclosed that locators required for detecting locations of mobile phones were being purchased and repair of armoured personnel carriers was to be undertaken.

Regarding missing persons, he said some of them had already been recovered but some others were yet to be recovered.

In reply to a question, the IG said that the Sindh police had got convicted suspects in 89 cases where complainant lodged false FIRs.

Lauding the Sindh chief minister’s support to police, he said the CM had given operational autonomy to the department. He said the police had demonstrated good performance and still its leadership was concentrating on how to enhance capacity of the force by purchasing new gadgets and equipment.

Paying homage to the police officers and personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty, the IG noted that as many as 2,600 policemen had sacrificed their lives and thousands of others were living with different kinds of disabilities.

DADU: Speaking to media personnel in the office of Dadu SSP Dr Farrukh Raza Malik a day earlier, IG Imam said that a “remarkable improvement” had been registered in the crime graph in Sindh since 2013.

He pointed out that no major act of terrorism had occurred and number of complaints of extortion and kidnapping had drastically come down over the past few years.

When his attention was drawn to an incident in which a media man, Paveel Junejo, was manhandled in Mehar, the IG directed Dr Waliullah Dal, who accompanied him, to hold an inquiry and not to hesitate to arrest any police officers found involved in the incident.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2019