The Punjab Home Department on Saturday issued a notification to abolish 20 police checkposts in various localities of the city, while six others operational within the public teaching hospitals have been converted into facilitation centres, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to details, the staff of these posts, the logistics and transport have been recalled to their parent police stations.
The decision to abolish the 20 police posts was made on the recommendations of DIG Operations Faisal Kamran on multiple complaints of illegal detentions and other violations from there.
During the last week of March, the alleged murder of a man on the premises of the Industrial Area police post caused embarrassment for the senior police command which suspended eight police personnel from service.
“It is submitted that 20 police posts (Chowkiats) are proposed to be denotified/abolished due to the unavoidable/administrative and operational reasons,” reads a letter written by the DIG Operations.
In the letter, he had mentioned the posts as Industrial Area, Lakhoki, Nadirabad, Wagah, Awan Dhaya Wala, Super Town, Firdaus Market, Sher Shah, Guldasht Town, FC College, Karol, Joseph Colony, Akram Park, etc.
The DIG suggested to the IG police Punjab, through the capital city police officer (CCPO), to abolish these posts in the interest of administrative efficiency and in accordance with the prevailing policy.
The six posts converted into facilitation centres are situated in Services Hospital, Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Children Hospital, Lahore General Hospital, Jinnah and Mayo Hospital Lahore.
An official said the senior police officers held multiple meetings wherein the data on the crime against property/persons and other affairs of the police posts was analysed.
He said the SSP Operations and the divisional SPs formulated their respective reports, and it took them a month or so to reach the consensus that the decades-old police posts had brought no relief to the public but caused additional burden on the national exchequer.
Reporter: Abid Chaudhry