BAHAWALPUR: District Police Officer (DPO) Sohaib Ashraf has ordered to minimise the nature of duties of police Qaumi Razakars and reserve them for only emergency duties -- mainly maintenance of law and order -- to avoid unnecessary interference in police matters at police stations across the district.

The DPO made the decision to keep the volunteers away during police’s actions aimed at curbing crime and nabbing criminals.

Dawn learnt that the DPO had received complaints that the Qaumi Razakars, clad in police uniform and deployed in police stations, were always aware of police movements and plans regarding actions and raids against criminals. In many cases, police circles claimed that these volunteers were suspected to have leaked confidential information and acted as informers for criminals due to which police raids had failed. This put the police force in an embarrassing situation and invited the wrath of their seniors.

Keeping in view these activities, the DPO decided to restrict their duties to emergencies and important events such as Muharram and other national and religious occasions for maintenance of law and order.

The district police chief’s spokesman, Jam Sajid, confirmed that the DPO had taken the decision to restrict the duties of the police volunteers and discontinue their involvement in police affairs, particularly operations against criminals.

FIELD OFFICES: With the abolition of the previous local government system, 41 field offices replacing the 109 union councils (UCs) have been established across the district.

This was stated by Local Government Deputy Director Muhammad Khursheed at a meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Shozeb Saeed on Tuesday.

Mr Khursheed said these 41 field offices were established in government buildings where the former UCs had been functioning earlier. He added out of 78 government buildings, five had been occupied to establish town committees under the LG ordinance.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2020