Tushar Ranjan Mohanty
On January 2, 2025, the Punjab Police (Pakistan) released its annual performance report for 2024, highlighting significant achievements in apprehending criminals and ensuring public safety. Over 137,000 fugitives and proclaimed offenders involved in serious crimes were arrested across the province, including Lahore. Among them, 104 dangerous fugitives evading justice abroad were extradited to Pakistan. The report reveals that more than 26,000 A-category and over 111,000 B-category criminals were apprehended in 2024. Furthermore, over 66,000 judicial absconders were arrested, comprising 6,907 in the A-category and 59,373 in the B-category. Intelligence-based operations (IBOs) also led to the arrest of over 35,000 habitual offenders, including 15,154 from the A-category and 20,485 from the B-category.
While Police in the province were racking up achievements relating to crimes and criminals, terrorism-related incidents in Punjab, Pakistan’s heartland province, recorded a rise in 2024, after a continuous decline over the preceding seven years, since 2017. According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), Punjab recorded a total of 59 terrorism-linked fatalities [Nine civilians, four Security Force (SF) personnel and 46 terrorists] in 27 terrorism-related incidents of killing in 2024, as against 48 fatalities (Seven civilians, four SF personnel and 37 terrorists) in 15 terrorism-related incidents of killing in 2023. Overall fatalities thus registered a 23 per cent increase. It is useful to recall, however, that the highest terrorism-related fatalities in the province were reported in 2013, at 1,656. Year 2022 registered just 11 terrorism-related fatalities (10 civilians and one terrorist), the lowest in the province since the commencement of its tryst with terrorism. The highest terrorism-related fatalities in the province were reported in 2013, at 1,656.
No comments:
Post a Comment