LAHORE: The Punjab governor has promulgated an ordinance amending the Police Order 2002, to establish a Crime Control Department (CCD), which will register and investigate the crimes provided in the Fourth Schedule.

The Police Order (Amend­m­e­­nt) Ordinance 2025 has emp­o­wered the CCD to establish po­­lice stations and register FIRs for serious and heinous crimes.

The ordinance makes the CCD the third parallel police organisation in Punjab with the authority to register cases after the counterterrorism department (CTD), and regular police.

According to the Police Ord­er (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, a specialised cadre with the name of Crime Control Force shall be raised and maintained in the CCD having its headquarters, regions, districts and sub-divisions comprising police stations and specialised units or wings.

The CCD shall be headed by the additional IG of the police who shall be responsible for its entire administration.

The head of the CCD shall be assisted by such a number of deputy inspector general of police, senior superintendents, superintendents and assistant/deputy superintendents of police and such other staff as the government may notify from time to time.

“The Crime Control Department police stations shall be established in every district and the officers in charge of such police stations shall act under the Code regarding the cases registered in Crime Control Department police stations or transferred to it,” reads the notification.

The Punjab government had already appointed senior police officer Zafar Sohail Chatta as the first Additional IG of Punjab CCD.

Talking to Dawn, Zafar Chatta said that the CCD head office would be initially established in Qurban Lines. He said the CCD would have three DIGs including DIG training, DIG vigilance and DIG internal accountability branch.

“The CCD has already taken over the Organised Crime Unit (OCU),” which had been operating in Lahore, as the OCU would be operated under the CCD in future, he said.

An SSP-ranked police officer would head the Lahore CCD with three SPs under his command.

Each SP would have three DSPs, respectively, in addition to other required staff, Zafar Chatta said, adding that the Lahore CCD would also have separate units.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2025