RAWALPINDI: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Dr Usman Anwar visited Rawalpindi on Friday and inspected the under-construction building of the Safe City Project and Service Centre at Liaquat Bagh.

Regional Police Officer (RPO) Babar Sarfraz Alpa briefed the IGP about the progress of work on the projects. The IGP directed completion of the Safe City Project within the stipulated timeline, adding easy and fast-track service delivery to citizens in a comfortable environment was being ensured.

He said in light of public feedback, the quality of service delivery should be improved and all available resources should be utilised to provide policing facilities and a clean environment to the citizens.

Under the Safe City Project worth Rs3.5 billion, 1,886 CCTV cameras at 306 locations will be installed. Of the total, 350 close circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed in the Red Zone of the garrison city in the first phase.

The administration had been directed to install CCTV cameras and connect them to a control room before the February 8 elections, but the installation of cameras is still in progress.

An official of the administration said in the second phase the CCTV cameras would be installed in and around the garrison city, including crowded markets, mosques, bazaars, major highways, entrances and exits, railway stations, bus terminals, district and high courts, important bridges, educational institutions, police stations, the central jail and other sensitive installations.

The then caretaker Punjab chief minister Mohsin Naqvi had inaugurated the Safe City Project in Rawalpindi on February 6, two days before the elections.

He had appreciated the team for initiating the project before the stipulated time and saving about Rs84 billion on the project. Mr Naqvi was told that 1,886 cameras will be installed at 306 points in the city.

Over 45 incidents of street crime reported

More than 45 incidents of street crime were reported to the police in the last two days, in which 21 vehicles were stolen and 42 mobile phones snatched at gunpoint from different parts of the city. The police have so far failed to trace the culprits and recover the stolen goods.

Hasnain Ahmad, a resident of Shakrial, was on his way home with his friend Zeeshan on a motorcycle after closing his mobile phone shop in Sadiqabad when he was intercepted by three motorcycle riders.

The robbers snatched a bag containing 25 mobile phones worth over Rs1.17 million and sped off.

Mohammad Siraj, a resident of Pirwadhai, was robbed of his mobile phone and Rs22,000 by two unidentified robbers in Fauji Colony while Mohammad Hamad Ashraf and Raheel Arif were deprived of their mobile phones by unidentified culprits in the city police area.

Musharraf Manzoor was on his way to his office in New Town area when he was robbed of his mobile phone by an unidentified motorcycle rider. Umair Khan’s sister was waiting outside a shopping centre in Rehmanabad when an unidentified person appeared on the scene and snatched her mobile phone worth Rs45,000.

Mohammad Arshad was attending a phone call while driving on Sixth Road when two unidentified motorcycle riders snatched his mobile phone after threatening him and sped off.

Mohammad Haris, a delivery boy, was robbed of his mobile phone and Rs8,000 by two unidentified robbers in Sadiqabad. Similarly, Mazhar Hussain was on his way to his clinic when he was robbed of his mobile phone and Rs22,000 by two robbers in Sadiqabad.

Chaudhry Mohammd Riaz, Mohammad Hasnain, Tahir Siddique, Saad Abdullah, Azam Khan, Ali Javaid Mughal, Mohammad Haroon, Mohammad Babar Rafiq, Asmatullah, and Naseer Ahmed were also among those who were deprived of their motorcycles by unidentified culprits.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2024