LAHORE, July 12: The Punjab government has decided to set up monitoring cells in nine districts to curb heinous crimes, provide legal assistance to the needy and justice to the common man.

The cells will be established in Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura.

The district monitoring cells will be an extension of the provincial monitoring cell (PMC) established for the same purpose.

The decision to set up DMCs was taken at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi here on Saturday.

The chief minister said the DMCs would control the heinous crimes like kidnapping for ransom and torture against women and children in active collaboration and coordination with the PMC.

He said the DMCs would also take cognizance of incid-ents like throwing of acid on women.

He said an effective strategy had been evolved to provide security to the poor and deprived segment of society. He said free legal aid would be provided to the victims of torture.