SIALKOT, March 2: The district government has finally locked up the offices of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee's local chapter and removed all the signboards from the police secretariat.

The step has been taken in the wake of dissolution of the CPLC by the district government at a council's special session on Aug 8, 2004. The council described the committee as illegal, and said there was no need of it in the presence of the Public Safety Commission.

The council had passed various resolutions at the meeting against the body which, according to convener Chaudhry Arsal Waqar Ghuman, had become a gang of local financial tycoons.

After the dissolution of the CPLC, a cold war developed between the committee management and the district administration which persisted for seven months. However, the tussle ended up in closure of the committee's offices.

The DPO claimed that the CPLC offices had been finally closed because Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool had not notified it. On the other hand, defunct CPLC chairman Mirza Nasir Baig and its management said the closure was against the public interest.

Its members said they spent Rs6 million from their pockets on the welfare of the Sialkot police to ensure relief to the public. They said they also contributed to the construction of Hajipura police station building. The CPLC, they said, provided relief to people by taking stock of more than 200 applications against police.