LAHORE: Inspector General of Punjab Police Inam Ghani has said that incidents of torture or death during detention are not acceptable.

He also issued various other instructions to the field staff while presiding over a regional police officers (RPOs) conference and separately chairing a meeting on master development plan for Qurban Lines and police uniforms at the Central Police Office here on Tuesday.

The IGP warned of stern action against those police officials responsible for custodial deaths and torture.

He said the latest progress report on cases of death during detention in all districts of the province and their investigation should be sent to the CPO within a week.

Mr Ghani said action on deaths during detention must be taken in light of the inquiry reports of internal accountability branch.

All the RPOs and DPOs should expedite the process of inspection of police stations and police offices of the districts under their jurisdiction to check and report incidents of death in custody.

The IG said the officials responsible for delay in inspection should be held accountable.

He also directed that in future the RPOs would report him (IG Punjab) heinous and major incidents of crime if occurred in any district instead of [by] the DPO or the special branch.

He issued instruction to finalise the master development plan for Qurban Police Lines under the principle of “low cost, high output” in which the design and mapping work experience of police offices and newly-constructed residential block should be conducted with the help of an expert architect.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2020