GUJRAT, Dec 13: The range police may not meet the 50 per cent target till Dec 31 fixed by the Gujranwala DIG for the arrest of proclaimed offenders and court absconders and could achieve only eight per cent target by now.
DIG Altaf Qamar had directed the district police officers of Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Narowal and Hafizabad to launch a campaign against POs and court absconders.
The drive had been started on Nov 18 which would be concluded on Dec 31. The DIG has warned the subordinates that either disciplinary or punitive action will be taken against them if they remain unable in achieving the target. He said their performance will be examined only by the arrested POs and not by the nabbed court absconders.
Mr Qamar has also imposed a ban on transfer and posting in the division to do away with any pretext by the officials in this regard. Till May 2004, the number of at large POs of both A and B categories in the division was around 5,000 and that of court absconders 8,000.
Before initiating the campaign, the range office directed all the six districts to send afresh the list of POs and absconders. Sources said according to fresh figures, the number of POs in the range had risen to around 10,000 and the court absconders over 12,000.
The fresh figures of the Gujrat district revealed that it had a total of 2,179 absconders of both A and B categories - A-Division police 117 absconders, B-Division (57), Civil Line (144), Sadar Gujrat (237), Sadar Lalamusa (341), City Lalamusa (47), Sadar Jalalpur Jattan (280), City Jalalpur Jattan (39), Karrianwala (63), Tanda (153), Kunjah (43), Sadar Kharain (236), Kharain Cantonment (39), Dinga (186), Kakrali (79) and Sara-i-Alamgir (118). There are 1,802 at large POs of both A and B categories of different police stations of the district, including A-Division 25 (4 A, 21 B), B-Division 22 (8 A, 14 B), Civil Line 128 (50 A, 78 B), Sadar Gujrat 272 (75 A, 197 B), Sadar Lalamusa 100 (30 A, 70 B), City Lalamusa 33 (13 A, 20 B), Sadar Jalalpur Jattan 155 (64 A, 91 B), City Jalalpur Jattan 52 (17 A, 35 B), Karrianwala 85 (45 A, 40 B), Tanda 50 (19 A, 31 B), Kunjah 182 (110 A, 72 B), Sadar Kharian 198 (72 A, 126 B), Kharian Cantonment 31 (9 A, 22 B), Dinga 151 (76 A, 75 B), Kakrali 155 (69 A, 86 B) and Sara-i-Alamgir 163 (77 A, 86 B).
The list shows that a number of POs have been at large for the previous two decades, 15 years and a decade. Hafiz Sagheer and Irshad wanted by Sara-i-Alamgir police have been at large since 1994 and Abdul Rauf since 1992.
Sajjad, Wajahat, Bau, Laeeq and Abid, the nominated accused in former law minister Chaudhry Farooq's case, have not been held so far. The list shows incomplete addresses of POs and errors. For instance, serial number 2 of A category POs' list of Sara-i-Alamgir police reveals that Irshad s/o unknown r/o Karachi municipal town is wanted in FIR Nos 431 and 436.
Tanvir Raza and Shabbir Raza had been acquitted by a court as a result of patch-up, but the A category list of Kakrali police contains their names. There are also complaints that the lists at 16 police stations of the district contain names of the acquitted people.
Sources said the detective foot constables (DFCs) were not performing their duties well. In almost all the POs' cases, the police record shows that the POs have escaped to foreign countries. They said the district police could arrest only a few dozens POs of both categories during the last 25 days of the campaign.
DIG Altaf Qamar during a press conference here the other day said that he was expecting good results by the Gujrat police during the campaign. He said the district police had earlier showed better results till November in recovery of stolen/looted property, illegal weapons and arrested around 247 POs.