No member of Schedule-IV should be arrested without solid evidence:Shuja Khanzada

Lahore: Provincial Home Minister Col.(R) Shuja Khanzada has said that under National Action Plan the cases registered against the persons included in Schedule-IV are being reviewed and instructions have been issued to the concerned authorities not to arrest any person under Schedule-IV without complete investigation and solid evidence.

He was talking to mediamen at his office, here today. The Minister said that strict departmental action will be taken against police officers who will make arrest under Schedule-IV without solid evidence and thorough investigation. He said that maintenance of law and order and elimination of terrorism is the priority of the government and all possible measures are being taken in this regard.

He said that on the instructions of the APEX Committee comprising Chief Minister Punjab, Corps Commanders and concerned officers, National Action Plan is being speedily implemented in the province. He said that Punjab Information Technology Board is carrying out mapping of crime rate with regard to National Action Plan which has revealed that the incidents of crimes have substantially reduced in the province. He said that implementation of National Action Plan will be continued till complete elimination of terrorists and government will spare no effort to make Punjab a haven of peace.

Col.(R) Shuja Khanzada said that with the setting up of ten model police stations, the traditional Thana culture is also changing. He said that the polite attitude of Information Technology officials to the complainants, who visit police stations for the registration of their complaints, is resulting in restoration of the confidence of people in police. He said that two police stations including Gulberg and Model Town have been made model police stations where IT officials remain on duty from 8:00am to 10:00pm while eight police stations including Defense-A, Defense-B, Defense-C, South Cantt, Sarwar Road, North Cantt, Baghbanpura and Mustafabad police stations have also been made model police stations where IT officials work in two shifts i.e, from 8:00am to 3:00pm and 3:00pm to 10:00pm.

The Minister further said that Inspector General Police is taking all out measures on the proposals of the government with regard to implementation of National Action Plan, establishment of model police stations and transformation of Thana culture and his performance is commendable.