LAHORE, July 13: Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi has asked the police department to submit inventory of illegal arms recovered so far and categorise registration of FIRs for resolution of disputes at community level, deciding to introduce community policing all over the province.

He also directed the police to give full support to DCOs and other district government officers, empowered to control prices, so that they could effectively discharge their duty.

He was presiding over a meeting of all provincial DIGs and DPOs here at the civil secretariat on Thursday. Law minister Basharat Raja, chief secretary Salman Siddique, home secretary Khusro Pervaiz and the IG also attended the marathon meeting.

The chief minister reviewed performance of the police in every district during the last one month, and asked the officers to improve it with regard to the arrest of criminals involved in heinous crimes like robberies.

Official sources said when the chief minister was informed that the police were now returning stolen vehicles to their owners after their recovery, he asked as to what was the position of the recovery and disposal of illegal arms. And when the police officials could not provide a satisfactory reply, he asked them to prepare an inventory of all the recovered weapons and submit it in the next meeting to be held after a month.

Hundreds of thousands of cases were registered regarding illegal weapons and their recovery, and there should be a proper record of their storage or disposal, he asked the police authorities.

All recovered weapons are deposited with maal khanas in districts and eventually sent to the main storage in Gulberg’s Qurban Lines. Weapons too are auctioned or sold normally to influential people.

The sources said the meeting decided to categorise registration of FIRs so as to reduce the burden of cases which would be resolved locally. The decided categories were crime against person and property. The cases against property would be further divided into three categories — those having a nominated accused, no nominated accused, and miscellaneous. The last category of criime against property would be got resolved out of police stations.

The chief minister said the police had started registering cases, but more improvement in this regard was required to provide relief to people. He asked the IG to forthwith start community policing in all other cities when he was informed that the system launched in Lahore a few days ago had reduced street crime. Under the system, four policemen patrol areas of their beat on two motorcycles 24 hours a day. In Lahore, 200 constables are patrolling the streets. As many as 130 motorcycles have been given to them by the police department and 70 by the community and bodies like the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Earlier, the chief minister took a serious notice of the lifting of vehicles and snatching of mobile phones in Lahore and other cities, and said it was the prime duty of the police to bust gangs involved in such crimes.

He said DPOs of the districts bordering other provinces should ensure that the stolen vehicles should not go out of Punjab. Additional patrolling posts too were being established to prevent smuggling of stolen vehicles. He directed the IG to evolve a strategy in league with his Sindh counterpart regarding the recovery of stolen vehicles.

The chief minister stressed the need for evolving a special strategy to check crime in industrial zones and estates and deputation of a special force for making such places crime free. He ordered early completion of highway patrolling posts and identification of more places for them so as the next phase of the project could be started.

He asked the police officials to improve the system of pickets in industrial and civic centres. In future, an independent inquiry should be held regarding police excesses against the people at such pickets. Such incidents should not altogether take place in the first instance, he said.

In his briefing, the IG said the incidents of kidnap for ransom had decreased during the last six months, and the police too had succeeded in arresting majority of culprits involved in the crime.

He said the police had recovered and returned 261 stolen vehicles to their owners during the last two months. As many as 1,032 cases of water theft were also registered in the past six months in the province.