The Senate Standing Committee on Interior, on Wednesday, took strong exception to the absence of Secretary Interior at the meeting and decided to send a notice to her in this regard. A meeting of the committee was held on Wednesday with Senator Talha Mehmood in the chair.
The committee was told that 26 percent of the total 9,733 police personnel at the federal capital had been deployed at the diplomatic area and for the security of VVIPs.
IG Islamabad Bin Yameen told the committee that security squads deployed for the VVIPs did not go beyond 11-15 kilometres within the limits of the federal capital, while police officials performed duties for 12-16 hours. He said that the overall security situation in the federal capital had improved considerably since 2008. He said that the strength of the police in Islamabad was very low and should be increased on a priority basis. The committee members appreciated the performance of the police and agreed that the strength of the police should be enhanced.
The Senate body took notice of the blockage of traffic at police check posts and asked CDA, Federal Police and the district administration to evolve a joint strategy to address the problems of commuters. The committee recommended that duty hours of the police should be reduced and private security guards should also be scrutinised thoroughly.
