RAWALPINDI: Only four police stations could be renovated by Wednesday, a day after the deadline of Jan 2 set by the City Police Officer Syed Khalid Hamdani to convert police stations into the Special Initiative Police Stations (SIPs).

The CPO has issued his orders to all SHOs with a deadline to complete the renovation work by Tuesday and submit a compliance certificate to the officer of OSI (establishment branch).

The CPO also warned that the SHO who was unable to send a compliance certificate to the OSI branch till 4 pm will be suspended and will be asked to report the Police Lines Headquarters. However, so far no SHO has been suspended for missing the deadline.

The spokesman for the police said that four of the police stations of Rawalpindi district including Saddar Baroni, Rawat, Mandra and Kahuta have been converted into the SIPs while the work on others was in progress and will be completed soon.

The provincial capital police department has released funds to the tune of Rs100 million to the contractor for the establishment of the Special Initiative Police Stations (SIPs), including 34 police stations of Rawalpindi.

The project was launched by the Punjab police chief Dr Usman Anwar to convert all the 735 police stations of the province, including 70 police stations of Rawalpindi division into the Special Initiative Police Stations.

The main objective of the project is to introduce modern technology and smart idea-based model police stations to provide citizens quick relief in order to get rid of decades-old ‘thana culture’ and strengthen the trust level between public and police.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2024