While more than 50,000 civilians have been killed in terror related incidents, a large number of law enforcement personnel are also amongst the victims.
Police and rangers, mostly responsible for maintaining law and order and border security, have laid down 68 lives in 2013 and 21 in 2014 across Punjab.
Of them, Punjab Police holds the lion’s share of 53 sacrifices, while three rangers died and 12 were injured in the Wagha blast on November 2 last year.
Apart for being responsible for law and order in the province, the police have to fight sectarian terrorists, organised gangs and street criminals.
According to a list compiled by the Finance and Welfare Fund Wing of the Punjab Police, the police personnel killed in terrorism and encounters with gangsters, extremists and street robbers are 86 from January 2013 to December 2014.
“The toll is scary but the force’s morale is high,” Additional Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Finance and Welfare Sohail Ahmed Khan told Pakistan Today.
MARTYRS IN NUMBERS:
According to data, in Dera Ghazi Khan district, 8 policemen were killed from January 2013 to June 2014 while performing duty while 4 were killed in Muzaffargarh.
In Faisalabad, 5 policemen were killed by terrorists. Two policemen were killed on May 21, 2013 in Chenab Nagar in the line of duty.
In Rawalpindi, 10 policemen from the rank of constable to sub-inspector lost their lives in the line of duty. In Lahore, 10 policemen were killed in the line of duty. In Rajanpur, 2 personnel gave away their lives, including Constable Ghulam Abbas, who was killed by the Chhotu Mazari gang after taking him hostage.
In Hafizabad, 3 policemen laid down their lives in an encounter with a notorious outlaw in Pindi Bhattian on November 23, 2013.
Police received information that proclaimed offender Sajjad Ahmad alias Haji Samaan, who was wanted in several cases of robbery, murder and other heinous crimes, was present in Thatha Raiki village.
Station House Officer (SHO) Arif Hussain Shah accompanied by other officers reached the spot and ordered Sajjad Ahmad and his accomplices to surrender but they replied by opening fire on police party with automatic weapons.
Inspector Shah, Head Constable Mohammad Aslam and Elite Force Constable Riasat Ali got martyred while 3 policemen were killed in Toba Tek Singh.
In Gujrat and Gujranwala, 5 policemen were killed. 2 each were martyred in Multan and Kasur while 1 each was martyred in District Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan and Attock.
30 INJURED IN TWO YEARS:
As many as 27 policemen were injured in 2013 across Punjab and 3 policemen were injured in 2014 including Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Malik Ijaz in Dera Ghazi Khan and constables Aamir Liaqat and Riasat Ali in Lahore.
According to the document available with Pakistan Today, previously the injured only used to get medical treatment in government hospitals but the incumbent Punjab IGP Mushtaq Ahmad Sukehra has made a policy that injured personnel could now be treated at private hospitals.
COMPENSATION:
“Though no worldly reward can compensate human lives, the Punjab Police Department owns and takes care of the heirs of its martyred officials,” said Khan.
Once an official dies while on duty, Khan said, a committee looks into the causes and circumstances leading to his death. Once it is established that the official died in an encounter with anti-state elements, he is declared a Shaheed (martyr) and his heirs stand eligible to receive a set of compensations.
According to him, the department pays Rs 10 million to the heirs besides full salary till the martyr’s due age of retirement, two jobs to immediate family members and a house. As cash and job incentives remain the same, the house is allotted according to the rank of the deceased. The heirs of martyred officials up to head constable rank get a five-marla house, up to DSP a 10-marla house and above a one-kanal house. The compensation was revised in 2013 and is being implemented from January 2014.
Earlier, the AIG said that a martyred police official’s family would get Rs 3 million compensation, of which the government chipped in Rs 2 million while the remaining Rs 1 million came from the welfare fund, established by the police officers.
The rangers’ compensation is not as lucrative as of the police.
According to their policy, the heirs of martyred rangers’ personnel would get Rs 500,000 compensation, a plot and free education for the children, said public relations officer (PRO) of the Punjab Rangers.
If among the heirs is someone eligible for a job, the department considers them.
LIFE OF MARTYRS’FAMILIES:
Life seemingly ended for Razia Bibi after the death of her husband, constable Kashif Shahzad, who was killed along with another constable in firing by unidentified gunmen on a picket on Multan-Dera Ghazi Khan Road on August 8, 2013,.
“I thought life had ended after Kashif’s death but the department moved quickly to compensate us for his sacrifice. Senior officials completed the required documentation within two months and released the funds because of which my children and I are able to live a comfortable life,” she said.
Widow of martyred DSP Muhammad Nawaz told Pakistan Today that the department stood beside her after her husband’s martyrdom. “We wish that he comes back someday to see that three of his daughters are taken care of and his son is completing his degree from United Kingdom,” she added.
