Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday ordered police to immediately arrest those responsible for Friday’s explosion in Ichhra in which 17 people were injured.
Presiding over a meeting to review security situation in the province, the chief minister said that such incidents would not be tolerated.
He said that police should do their best to protect life and property of citizens. He said that maintaining order was the government’s top priority. He said that poor security directly affected development and economic activity.
Sharif said that all-out efforts should be made to improve law and order situation in the Punjab and law enforcement agencies should work in coordination. He said that criminals should be arrested and brought to book.
The chief minister also called for using modern techniques to trace criminals. He said that billions of rupees had been given to police and more resources would be extended to them to improve security situation in the province.
“Police will have to come up to citizens’ expectations,” he said.
Sharif said that significant resources had been made available to improve police’s performance. He said modern training had also been arranged for capacity building of the force. He said that a modern Command and Control Centre was being set up in Lahore.
Earlier, the chief minister was briefed on the Ichhra incident and overall security situation in the province. An early report on the Friday’s explosion was also presented.
Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, National Assembly Member Pervaiz Malik, Punjab Assembly Member Khwaja Imran Nazir, home secretary, Lahore commissioner, the capital city police officer and leading traders attended the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 13th, 2014.