KARACHI: The Sindh police have decided to pursue the investigation into the killing of over 100 policemen during the ongoing Karachi operation more aggressively by assigning the crime branch of the organisation the task of identifying groups and individuals who have been consistently targeting law-enforcers, a top official said on Wednesday.

Sindh IG Iqbal Mahmood while confirming the move said the decision was taken to ensure that the killers of the policemen were arrested that he believed would also prove a morale booster for police officials who had been facing the challenge of establishing the writ of the state mainly in Karachi but also in other parts of the province.

“We have reviewed measures and decided several new ones to enhance security in Karachi and other parts of Sindh,” he told Dawn after briefing the provincial cabinet on security arrangements made in Sindh in the wake of an army operation against militants in North Waziristan as well as the progress so far made in the Karachi operation.

“The plan to further pursue the Karachi operation was also shared with the cabinet members,” said the police chief.

Besides, he said, the cabinet was informed about the investigation of policemen’s killings and the crime branch effectiveness in this regard. It was decided that the crime branch would be tasked with the job, he added.

Policemen have emerged as the main victims of frequent targeted attacks on the law-enforcement agencies in Karachi and other parts of the province over the past few years.

While the killing of police officials is not a new phenomenon in the history of bloodshed in Karachi on political, ethnic and sectarian grounds, the figures of casualties of the police started rising in 2011. The deadly trend continued the following years and it has yet to come to an end. The police lost their 117 men in Karachi alone in nine months, the Sindh Assembly was recently informed by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah in his budget 2014-15 speech.

In this situation, the police authorities believed that the importance of a proper investigation of the killings could not be overemphasised. “The identification of the groups and arrest of their members is crucial for the overall performance and future course of the Karachi operation,” said an official.

“The spirit behind engaging the crime branch for investigation into policemen killing cases is to perform the job on a fast-track basis,” a senior official explained.

“Police stations are already burdened with several other tasks and the specialised units of the Sindh police are looking after some other dedicated tasks.

“The crime branch has much better manpower and resources to sort out these cases much earlier than regular investigation sections.”

Meanwhile, the Sindh IG has constituted an inspection committee to evaluate the existing infrastructure of the police department.

The committee has been ordered to furnish details about available arms and ammunition maintenance, besides identifying anomalies and recommending measures to remove them.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2014