LAHORE: With the advent of Eid-ul-Azha, the Punjab police have started erecting pickets around the cattle markets notified by the government to save the citizens and traders from robberies and cattle theft.

Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Rao Sardar Ali Khan while chairing the Eid security meeting at the Central Police Office (CPO) on Friday directed the senior command to devise a coordinated security plan for cattle markets ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

He directed that traders should not be allowed to set up cattle markets at places other than notified by the district administration concerned. He instructed the supervisory officers to take concrete steps to curb street crimes, robberies and cattle theft in the vicinity of cattle markets.

The IGP said that special measures be taken in other major cities, including Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi. He added that proper arrangements should be made for parking spaces at appropriate distances from the cattle markets while establishing check posts.

“Additional force should be deployed in the vicinity of cattle markets to maintain extra load of traffic and ensure smooth flow of traffic in all cases,” he said, adding that additional patrolling of PHP teams should be arranged for the protection of traders and passengers on highways so that the citizens and traders, who come to the cattle markets for sacrificial animals, do not face any difficulty.

He further said that the instructions issued by the Punjab government regarding collection of sacrificial animal’s skins should be strictly enforced and no banned organization should be allowed to collect the same even after changing their names.

While ordering to carry out effective monitoring of banned outfits, the IGP stressed that a stern action should be taken if any banned outfit is found collecting or selling sacrificial animal’s hides. He said that besides the security of cattle markets, security of Eid prayers should also be taken into consideration by utilizing all available resources in this regard.

He said that search, sweep, combing and intelligence-based operations in sensitive districts should be expedited and police teams should work with Special Branch and CTD to ensure all possible measures for the protection of lives and properties of the citizens.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022