KARACHI, Sept 18: The city on Tuesday witnessed the launch of the Muhafiz force, equipped with 20 police mobiles and with a standing manpower of 500 personnel drawn from police stations across the city. “The new force will help quell street and other crime and will help reinforce public confidence in the police,” claimed the governor of Sindh, Dr Ishratul Ibad, at the inauguration ceremony.

The intention appears laudable but the force’s effectiveness remains to be tested. The contrast with Lahore is revealing: the city has only one-third the population of Karachi but the Mujahid force was launched with a 100-mobile strength while Ziaul Hasan Khan – currently the Provincial Police Officer (PPO) Sindh – was the PPO Punjab.

While an IG Sindh spokesperson claimed that Karachi’s Muhafiz force has around 50 police mobiles and the number is expected to be increased to 200, manpower issues raise further questions.

No extra personnel have been hired or arranged for the new force and manpower has instead been drawn from different police stations across the city. This, despite the fact that the establishment of the Muhafiz force came at a time when the hiring of 6,000 police recruits is in the pipeline.

“The police station, which is considered the nucleus of policing, stands weakened through this [the Muhafiz force] exercise,” commented a senior police official on the condition of anonymity. “It would have been better to increase the resources at police station. Furthermore, creating a new force while the Emergency 15 are already on the job is a questionable move,” he pointed out.

However, the spokesperson for the IG Sindh maintained that there would be no overlapping of work between the 15 and the Muhafiz force and the latter would be able to assist the former. He added that the new force would also assist station house officers (SHOs) when required, since the police station is the basic unit of policing. “The new force will focus on the city’s business areas and others notorious for the high incidence of crime,” said the spokesperson. At the inauguration ceremony held at the Garden police headquarters, IG Sindh Ziaul Hasan Khan stated that the Muhafiz force is comprised of 500 trained men who will carry out 24-hour patrols in the city’s industrial, business and residential areas. He added that the new force has initially been provided 50 police mobiles and 100 motorcycles, the numbers of which will be subsequently increased. The project was given to the DIG East in the initial phase but its operational in-charge will be an officer of the SP rank who will operate from the Central Police Officer.

The city police chief, Azhar Farooqui, added that the need for such a force was urgent given the city’s ever-increasing population.

However, Karachiites remember the activities of the 1980s’ Eagle Squad, which earned a reputation so notorious that it spelt its end.