FAISALABAD, April 24: Joint ventures between business groups and government agencies should be initiated to equip the police with modern gadgets and weapons.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool said this while speaking at a function organised by industrialists in honour of the Faisalabad police for their laudable services at the local Circuit House here on Sunday night.

The governor said that philanthropists should provide motorcycles, arms and ammunitions, modern gadgets and other required infrastructure to the police force so that it could protect life and property more effectively.

The performance of the Faisalabad police, he said, was satisfactory, especially its commendable role in the recovery of abducted persons and arrests of gangsters involved in kidnap for ransom cases.

Earlier, DPO Muhammad Amin Wains said the district would have the first Wide Area Network (WAN) for efficient surveillance and monitoring of this industrial and business hub of Pakistan.

He said around 100 close circuit cameras were in operation in various parts of the city, including 31 in Iqbal Stadium. Studies were being conducted to switch over to WAN to monitor the whole city through a central control room without employing a heavy force.

Mr Wains further said that incidents of robbery were rampant in the downtown area, but not a single incident was reported from there after the installation of close circuit cameras.

Meanwhile, a dress show was held at the local club to mark the closing of Expo-2006 arranged by the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, state minister Hamid Raza Hayat Harraj, Faisalabad industrial estate development and management company chairman Mian Muhammad Latif and FCCI president Mian Muhammad Haneef also attended the function.