The newly appointed Karachi Additional Inspector General of Police (Additional IGP), Azad Khan, addressed police officers at the Arts Council of Pakistan on Sunday. He emphasized in his speech the need for crime eradication, reforms, technology and public service.
The Karachi police chief said the Sindh police’s primary mission was to serve the people. He said the history of the Sindh police showed numerous sacrifices by martyrs. Describing improvement in police stations as his top priority, he said the police must meet the expectations of the people by adopting modern technology.
He stressed the need for improving the image of the police, presenting the police as a helper for the people and promoting a friendly environment in police stations so that the people could easily access the police.
He ordered indiscriminate action against street crime, organised crime, drugs and other serious crimes and said improvement in the investigation system was the need of the hour. He called for investigations on merit and effective use of technology to combat crime. He also vowed to give priority to the welfare of police personnel at all levels.
The Karachi police chief said every employee of the police force would be held accountable for his actions. He announced the establishment of a management committee for improvement in police so that the living standards of police personnel could be improved.
He also emphasised the need for bridging the communication gap between police officers and personnel, creating clear standard operating procedures (SOPs) for professional work and improving public perception of the police.
He directed all the members of the police force to perform their duties with hard work, honesty and professional spirit so that the public trust could be restored and strengthened. Earlier, the Karachi police chief had stated that curbing the street crime, extortion and narcotics in Karachi would be his priorities and action shall be started in the coming days against the mafia involved in these crimes.
In the late hours of January 1, the Sindh government issued a notification for the appointment of Khan as the new Karachi police chief. Before his new post, he was serving as the Sindh Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) additional IGP.
Talking to The News, he said that it was his duty to provide a peaceful atmosphere for the people of Karachi and his priorities included curbing the menace of street crime by further expanding the intelligence network and surveillance. He said he would also hold a meeting on law and order in the coming days to develop a strategy against the criminal elements.
To a query, Additional IG Khan said that before being the Karachi police chief, he had served as the Sindh CTD chief where he had carried out vast investigations against the criminal and narcotics mafias, and led operations against them in coordination with local police.
