PESHAWAR, Sept 12: Federal and provincial security agencies are scrutinising records of new lower cadre recruits in the NWFP police and ascertaining if they have any leanings towards extremist organizations, sources confirm.
The decision to verify the profile of low-ranked policemen in all provinces besides checking the past records of new police appointees in the NWFP, was taken last month in a meeting in Islamabad, sources said.
The decision to purge the police of extremists was taken in the wake of the Moharram killings in Quetta, Hyderi Mosque bomb explosion in Karachi and the arrest of a constable from Lahore who was deputed at the official residence of Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi.
The Hazara community of Quetta had also blamed the local police for the killing of more than 52 people in Moharram 2004. While the Karachi police had identified the suicide bomber linked with the Hyderi Mosque bomb blast as constable Mohammad Akbar, who was linked with the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan.
A policeman's buckle and two pieces of burnt belt were found in the debris of the Hyderi mosque, which had led to the arrest of eight policemen in Karachi. A federal intelligence agency and the police's Special Branch have separately started verifying names of candidates to be posted as constables in the Frontier, sources added.
The NWFP police have recently decided to appoint more than 2,500 constables in the province. Recently, interviews and physical tests of candidates were conducted and a list of prospective appointees finalized but final appointment orders had not yet been issued.
"It is very important to conduct verifications of the new lot in the police department in the wake of the current spate of terrorism in the country and the alleged involvement of low- ranking policemen in terrorist incidents occurring this year," said Senior Superintendent of Police (operations) Abid Ali.
The Special Branch was currently verifying the candidates' past records and it would hand over its report to the provincial police officer within a week's time, said the SSP. The police officer said that they had finalized the list of new recruits, adding that appointment orders would be issued a week after the verifications.