PESHAWAR: Inspector General of Police, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr Mohammad Naeem Khan on Tuesday said his department was reviewing the Fourth Schedule of the Anti-Terrorism Act and would complete the exercise in two weeks.

“We are rationalising Schedule-IV as it has some unwanted names but doesn’t have those, which should be there,” he told reporters at the central police office here.

The police chief said the department had developed proper criteria for putting names on the terror watch list.

He said the Fourth Schedule, which had around the names of 3,700 people, including Afghan nationals, would be rationalised in two weeks.

Dr Naseem said all district police officers would conduct review meetings in their respective areas, while the list would carry only the names allowed by Section 11(EE) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

IGP says revised Fourth Schedule will be in place in two weeks

Section 11 of the law provides for keeping the names of individuals with terrorist and sectarian connections on a list called Fourth Schedule.

Dr Naeem said the police had killed 21 high-profile terrorists associated with the Bali Khiara group in Dera Ismail Khan district during the last one year in a well-coordinated operation.

He said the Khiara group had been active in the areas bordering Punjab since terrorist Bali Khiara took over its reins for five years after the elimination of his predecessor in a US drone strike.

He said the group carried out 28 terrorist attacks last year but the ongoing crackdown carried out by security forces and police had almost halved the number.

He said Bali Khiara was on the run but the police would capture him soon.

Dr Naeem said land grabbing had become a big menace in the province, so the police had launched a major crackdown on it as well as usury and peddling of ice drug.

He said the police had identified 1,895 usurers, ice peddlers and land grabbers before compiling their criminal records for action.

The IGP said 995 of those outlaws had so far been detained and 905 challaned.

He said the police had launched a special crackdown on drugs in Lakki Marwat district for more than a month arresting nearly half of the major dealers, while the rest were on the run.

Dr Naeem said the process of merging the Khasadar and Levies personnel with KP police was going ahead smoothly.

He said the absorption of 29,000 Levies and Khasadar personnel was a big challenge and to ensure it happens transparently, the KP police first set up a scrutiny committee headed by the DPOs at district level, which checked all relevant records.

The IGP said the lists provided by districts were further vetted by another committee set up at the central police office and they were later placed before the home department.

He said after clearance, the refined lists would be placed before the cabinet for approval.

Dr Naseem said efforts were under way to turn the police in merged districts into a citizen oriented professional force and had prepared a detailed training plan for it.

He said in addition to the communication equipment, IED jammers, armoured personnel carriers had to be procured for the police, while the counter terrorism department, bomb disposal unit and special branch had to be extended to the merged districts.

He said the dispute resolution committees would become functional in the merged tribal districts within a month.

He said under the Prime Minister’s Digital Pakistan initiative, the provincial police department was set to launch ‘e-ticketing and roaming eye’ initiatives to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2019