LAHORE, Aug 23: As many as 10 district police officers have been asked to personally monitor and pursue 18 high-profile cases of sectarian killings in Punjab to ensure conviction of the accused in league with the prosecution service department.
The direction has been issued by law minister Muhammad Basharat Raja on behalf of the chief minister during a marathon meeting held here on Tuesday night to review progress of the cases and the steps being taken to prevent sectarian violence in the Punjab. The cases included the arrest of known declared terrorists and those who indulge in fanning religious hatred.
The DPOs were from Lahore, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Attock, Jhang and Vehari.
Officials informed Dawn on Wednesday that the minister obtained information of the cases individually from each DPO and the efforts being made to curb sectarianism in their respective districts.
The meeting was informed that there were 20 high-profile cases of sectarian killings in Punjab. Out of them two had been decided by courts while the remaining were pending adjudication.
The minister directed the DPOs on behalf of the chief minister to always keep track of the cases in courts so that they could convey the latest information about them to the authorities concerned instead of looking for SPs or investigation officers for the purpose. They could be asked for the information any time.
The DPOs were also asked to take interest in the cases so that they could be properly pursued in courts. This would help remove any shortcomings in the challans that could benefit the accused.
The minister said similar directions had also been given to the prosecutors concerned. The DPOs should also remain in touch with the prosecutors to fulfill any legal requirement regarding the cases.
Another direction was to ensure that all witnesses appear and record their statements in courts without any fear. The prosecution department too was planning to provide protection to them by arranging their appearance in courts under police custody, officials said.
The minister was reportedly informed that six such cases were being tried in anti-terrorism courts in Bahawalpur, three in Jhang, two each in Lahore, Multan and Vehari, and one each in Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Attock.
Earlier, the meeting was informed that the situation with regard to sectarian violence was under control in Punjab and all the cases had been registered previously. All the cases had been traced and sent to courts for trial.
During the crackdown against those fanning sectarianism, 2,000 cases were registered all over the province in the past over two months and 817 suspects arrested.
The minister conveyed to the police officers the federal government’s decision of not sparing anyone indulging in even a minor incident of inciting people against each other through sermons or hate literature, including pamphlets and CDs.
They were explained that the police should not allow distribution of hate material and misuse of loudspeakers in mosques to prevent sectarian violence about which a red alert had been issued across the country.