LAHORE, Jan 9: The firstever central reporting centre was inaugurated at the office of the Model Town SP (Operations) on Monday with an objective of providing a quick relief to the people in registration of their cases.
Model reporting centres are being set up in all six divisions of the Lahore police on the direction of Inspector General of Punjab Police Javed Iqbal with an aim to avoid delays in registration of cases by station house officers.
Capital City Police Officer Ahmad Raza Tahir, DIG (Operations) Ghulam Mehmood Dogar and SSP (Operations) Sarfraz Ahmad Falki inaugurated the centre in the presence of journalists and all divisional SPs.
The model reporting centre has an in charge inspector, a sub-inspector (legal), counters for men and women complainants and a computerized record room.
The staff comprising 10 policemen will work from 9am to 7pm, receive applications and ensure quick registration of cases by involving 12 SHOs of the division.
Model Town SP (Operations) Malik Muhammad Awais told Dawn that the basic objective of the centre was to facilitate citi-zens in the quick registration of their cases and reduce dependence on SHOs who were found involved in delaying FIRs.
He said the staff would ensure FIRs in cases of crime against property, quarrel, kidnapping and rape, adding that cases like land-grabbing and cheque dishonouring would, however, be registered by police stations.
He said the Rs300,000 spent on the construction of the reporting centre had been gathered from the police pool and traders of the Ichhra market.
IIe said the honest and dedicated staff comprising two lady policemen had especially been trained for dealing visitors politely and courteously.
He said the centre would ensure the quick registration of FIRs and the faxed copies would be delivered to complainants on the spot.
On the other hand, a couple of station house officers, speaking to Dawn, showed reservations about the working of reporting centres.
They said a good number of FIRs (requiring nominated accused) required thorough verifications and the quick registration of FIRs in such cases would further aggravate both sides.
They said a tendency of filing fake applications for theregistration of cases was already a challenge for police stations and the reporting centre staff would also come under fire for delays in such cases.
TERRORISTS HELD: City Police Chief Ahmad Raza Tahir told reporters that the police in association with intelligence agencies captured three terrorists who backed the suicide bombers involved in a terror attack on the Data Ganj Bakhsh shrine.
He said the suspects, who arelinked withTaliban, would be presented before the media soon.
LIQUOR SEIZED: Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) claimed on Monday to have foiled a smuggling attempt and seized 48 bottles of Indian liquor near Kanganpur (Kasur) Border.
According to a release, onduty officials challenged some suspects entering Pakistan from Indian side at night.
The suspects, who were carrying some goods, dropped the luggage on the ground and fled.
Rangers chased them and opened fire, but they managed their escape taking the benefit of darkness and fog.
Officials seized the liquor and got registered a case with the local police.