PESHAWAR, April 1: The government has directed the law enforcement agencies to check movement of internally displaced persons and illegal Afghans in the province.

The orders were issued during a meeting held here on Monday to review the current law and order situation with reference to the upcoming general elections in the province. The meeting was chaired by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retired) Tariq Pervez Khan.

The meeting directed the law enforcers to improve intelligence information at police station level, hold regular meetings of divisional and district intelligence committees and keep close coordination between police and local administration.

Caretaker Minister for Home and Tribal Affairs Fayaz Khan Toro, Chief Secretary Ghulam Dastagir Akhtar, Inspector General of Police Akbar Khan Hoti, Home and Tribal Affairs Secretary Azam Khan, Additional Inspector General of Police (Operation) Masood Afridi, Additional Inspector General of Police (Special Branch) Akhtar Ali, Peshawar CCPO Imtiaz Altaf and all regional police officers of the province attended the meeting.

The regional police officers briefed the meeting about the law and order situation in their areas and their preparations and planning to ensure law and order before and during the elections, said a handout.

Addressing the participants of the meeting, the caretaker chief minister said that holding free, fair and transparent elections was the first duty of his government for which peaceful environment was inevitable.

“In order to hold peaceful elections, we have to facilitate and provide security to the contesting candidates, election staff and above all the general public so that they can use their basic right of vote carelessly,” he added.

The chief minister directed all the quarters concerned to take effective and timely steps to that effect. He stressed the need for intelligence and information gathering at police station level for maintaining peace.

The regional police officers were directed to keep close coordination with the contesting candidates in their respective areas and apprise them of the possible security threats during election campaign, based on intelligence information so that any untoward situation could be avoided.

The law enforcement agencies were also directed to take necessary steps to ensure implementations of the code of conduct issued by Election Commission of Pakistan.

The participants of the meeting expressed concern over the increasing incidents of targeted killing in the province. The law enforcement agencies were directed to formulate an effective strategy to control targeted killing in the province.