Man with a mission: IGP Nasir Durrani on combating terrorism and the boon of consensus
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nasir Khan Durrani said they are restructuring the Department of Counter Terrorism (DCT) which would function independently and also have the legal power to detain suspects for up to 90 days.
In an interview with
The Express Tribune, Durrani said DCT had failed to make an impact earlier because its role was limited to intelligence gathering while police stations were the implementing bodies which did not promptly act upon intelligence reports.
He said the department would be revamped and be responsible for intelligence gathering, investigation and operations in terrorism cases. It would also have the legal power to detain any suspect for up to 90 days after taking permission from the home department and notifying an anti-terrorism court judge.
The department will also get a new name. “Its new name will be Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and will have the liberty to act on its own.”
Durrani maintained the root causes of terrorism should be properly understood and then addressed accordingly in order to systematically eliminate the scourge. “There should be a national policy on ‘diagnostic approach basis’ as far as terrorism is concerned. All aspects of terrorism should be properly defined,” he argued, adding other Muslim countries like Malaysia could serve as a role model to this end.
“To fight militancy, many steps including a ban on issuing religious decrees against each other are required. But it is only possible when the state is involved in the entire affair.”
He said these steps were not possible without developing consensus and taking on board all stakeholders, because implementing the process through force would invite resistance.
Multiplicity of law
Nasir Khan Durrani said different laws in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata), Frontier Regions (FRs) and settled districts resulted in multiplicity and caused confusion.
“There should be a task force to work on uniformity of law in this area at the federal level because it results in confusion when fixing responsibility,” he said, suggesting this should be done in phases.
“Before partition, there was no-man’s land between Fata and settled districts which was regularly patrolled by the Frontier Constabulary (FC) as the British Indian Administration wanted to deal with tribes in a different manner. After partition, we should have changed [the system], but we are still pursuing this policy.” This, he claimed, had created many problems.
“People from Fata can easily come to settled districts, but other people can’t go to the tribal belt easily. In addition, the FC’s role has been changed too and is being used for other purposes.”
Combating corruption
IGP Durrani said Hong Kong was a model state for corruption control and should be followed as an example. “There are three pillars of this system. The first is transparency, the second is reducing discretionary powers, and the third is across-the-board accountability in every department.”
He stressed no department should be spared from being held accountable, but some in Pakistan insist on internal accountability and being left on their own, which is against the Hong Kong model.
Talking about procurement of substandard arms and ammunition along with other combat gear in the past, Durrani said the war on terror was a high-intensity conflict and thus required quality equipment. He said a proper procedure will be followed while purchasing weapons for the force in the future.
The IGP lamented K-P police had no forensic lab to test explosives and since the element of scientific investigation was also missing in the country, the province was no exception in this regard. “We are trying to develop a culture of modern investigation and to establish our own lab. But till then, we will take help from other provinces.”
Durrani said their first priority was fighting terrorism and increasing accessibility of police officials to the general public. Secondly, they wanted to deal with kidnapping for ransom as well as extortion cases. He concluded the process of reforms in the police department would continue and they were carrying out a needs analysis in this regard.
Man with a mission: IGP Nasir Durrani on combating terrorism and the boon of consensus – The Express Tribune
IGP makes formal request for employing tribal youth in police
The provincial police chief has formally sent a letter to the chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for accommodating tribal youth in the police force through proper channel, a source said.
The letter was sent to the chief secretary on January 27. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani in the letter proposed to the provincial government that the people belonging to tribal area should be accommodated in police and other government jobs for building up national integration and harmony.
The letter said there was a lot of discontentment and frustration among the tribal youth for not getting due share in job opportunities.“Being close to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, most of them want to serve in this province, especially in Police Department. The tribal youth are unable to join Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police because the recruitment is done on domicile basis. Hence the tribal youth cannot be adjusted against the existing posts,” it added.
IGP makes formal request for employing tribal youth in police - thenews.com.pk
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to have counter terror dept: IGP
To curb the menace of terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and extortion, a Counter Terrorism Directorate (CTD) will be instantly established in Khyber Pakhtukhwa and it will specifically deal with militancy related issues.
These views were expressed by Inspector General Police (IGP) Nasir Durani in his exclusive interview with The Frontier Post said counter terrorism directorate will comprise of three key wings including Operational, Intelligence and Arresting. Around 2,200 policemen will perform its duties in directorate and recruitment process has been started for the purpose, Durani said.
\"About the directorate, IGP said it would start operations in a period of six months and at the beginning, it will work in Peshawar and later to be extended its functions to whole KP to eliminate militancy\". A request was made to Federal as well as provincial government for purchasing technology for the directorate, he informed.
Durani claimed that the purchasing of technology for the above-mentioned directorate would be made via transparent way as the earlier arms scandal degraded the police department in KP.
To a query, Durani said the facilitators, who facilitate militants were present in the city and to get rid of prevailing uncertainty, a law passed and through which the police personnel were authorized to make verification of each rented home in city. \"If anyone found violating the law will be imprisoned for one year\" IGP explained.
Owners of hotels in metropolis of Peshawar were also directed to accommodate only those people, who have valid National Identity Card and also verify it through NADRA, he said. Everybody should play its due role to help eradicate the terrorism and uncertainty in the region, he appealed.
While acknowledging the fact that police have scarcity of sophisticated and modern weapons, he said the government had allocated enough fund to department in this regard. The police department purchased 30 snap dogs however it lacks dog\'s handlers and added they were trying their best to train their own personnel for the cause, he clarified.
Police Intelligence system need improvement to eradicate the menace of militancy and department work on their improvement.
Police Department ready to counter terrorism \"To win this war, we need to unite and act according to the plan,\" the IG said.
Nasir Durrani appreciated the duty of Bomb Disposal Units officials and stated them national heroes who put their lives in risk for the sake to protect masses.
He said that provincial government should allow the police department to recruit policemen against those cops who were manned for the security propose of on going development projects in KP as many police personnel were performing their duties with them.
He added that he him self visited some districts whereas some of police stations, check posts and police lines were in deteriorating condition that\'s why they decided to spend police funds in that areas to make them better.
IG KP police said militants would have to be tackled according to a tactical plan and added that certain laws would also have to be legislated in this regard.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to have counter terror dept: IGP
