PESHAWAR, Jan 19: The police have beefed up security on several roads leading to tribal areas to cleanse highway robberies and kidnappings, official sources told Dawn here on Sunday.

The city police had established 10 police checkpoints on Ring Road, Kohat Road, Frontier Road and Matani-Kohat Road and deputed six platoons comprising 150 cops on these roads to control crime after sunset, they said.

In the past the police did not allow vehicles on these roads after dark and used to move in convoys escorted by police.

But now these roads are safe as security has been tightened.

Only one incident of kidnapping-for-ransom occurred last month. Some seven armed Afridi tribesmen abducted 13-year- old Ismail Yousuf, a son of Yousuf Ali — SDO of Works Department in Kohat — from the Ring Road.

But the police immediately took action against the officials of the concerned police station and suspended SHO Jehanzeb and ASIs Saleh Mohammad and Liaquat for negligence.

Sources claimed that the kidnappers were hiding in Terah Valley near Afghanistan border and soon Ismail Yousuf would be recovered.

The city police have taken an important decision to get rid of those SHOs, who are alleged to have been involved making illegal money.

“Seven sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspector of Gulbahar, Pishtakhara and Badhber police stations have been suspended on corruption charges and replaced with young and educated officers,” police sources said.

Nisar Khan and Abdus Samad had been recently appointed as SHOs of West-Cantt and Gulbahar police stations respectively on experimental basis, and later on, the remaining 19 SHOs would be replaced with fresh blood, sources said.

The police wanted to bring about a positive change in the behaviour of the police force and the decision to replace the SHOs was taken in view of the numerous complaints of corruption received from the general public, the officials added.

The city police chief had also instructed the SHOs to register FIRs without delay. Though, this order would show increase in the crime graph, but it would have far-reaching effect on the law and order situation, they claimed.

Most police stations avoid registering FIRs in a bid to hide the true number of crimes in their jurisdictions as the SHOs’ annual confidential reports are based on the rate of crime in their respective limits.

But with new instructions, it is believed that the SHOs would work hard to improve the law and order situation, the official said.