MULTAN, Oct 18: Punjab IGP Ziaul Hassan said on Tuesday 16 people were being interrogated in the carnage at Mong village in Mandi Bahauddin. He, however, declined to comment further on the issue when a reporter asked about the outcome of the police investigation so far.

Speaking to journalists, he attributed the incident to sectarianism while the government authorities were labelling it as an act of terrorism. A senior Gujranwala police officer had even seen “foreign hand” in the carnage.

The IGP said a joint operation of the governments of Punjab and Balochistan was in the offing in collaboration with the federal government to bring the inter-provincial gangs of criminals to book.

He said the police in Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan districts were being equipped with the motorboats to apprehend criminals operative in the katcha area alongside the Indus.

The Punjab government had provided Rs19 billions to the police and now it was their duty to reciprocate by living up to the expectations, the IGP said. He added that proactive policing was better than defensive policing.

He appreciated the Jhang police for smashing the gangs of criminals well in time.

The Punjab police, he said, had contributed Rs10 million to the President’s Relief Fund for the quake victims, besides sending truckloads of relief goods.