Commissioner, CCPO on corona SOPs: FIRs to be registered for not wearing face masks

LAHORE: A meeting jointly chaired by the Lahore division commissioner and capital city police officer (CCPO) Saturday decided that FIRs would be registered against the persons not wearing safety masks at public places.

Moreover, public transport vehilces would be impounded if found carrying more than 50 per cent passengers of their capacity and not following other corona SOPs, decided the meeting held to review the status of implementation of SOPs and guidelines devised by Punjab government in the wake of third wave of corona pandemic at Capital City Police Headquarters.

The meeting was jointly presided over by Lahore commissioner and CCPO. All divisional SPs of operations and investigations wings, all assistant commissioners and other related officers attended the meeting. Different proposals came under discussion to strictly enforce the SOPs regarding government guidelines and SOPs to protect citizens from this deadly virus.

CCPO Lahore Ghulam Mahmood Dogar said that strict enforcement of corona SOPs would be ensured for the safety of citizens. He said protection of citizens from coronavirus was Lahore Police’s top priority and they would do their best in collaboration with the district government to implement the government guidelines. He appealed to the citizens to cooperate with police and district government for their own and others’ safety.

The commissioner said that joint teams of administration and police would monitor the enforcement process and a control room had been established in this regard.

Punjab police will extend all possible assistance to commissioners and deputy commissioners in implementation of corona SOPs.

Instructions to the all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs have been issued by the IG through a letter dispatched to the officers.

The letter directed that all possible cooperation should be extended to the district administration to ensure compliance of government orders regarding closure of markets on Saturdays and Sundays in all districts of the province and do not delay action against those who are secretly doing their businesses. The letter said that action should also be taken against those who do not comply with government orders regarding smart lockdown while government directives of corona SOPs regarding restaurants and parks should be implemented.

The letter said that police teams along with other government agencies should be fully engaged in activities to implement government directives regarding corona SOPs.

The IG also instructed the officers to save the police force from the corona epidemic and SOPs should be strictly enforced. All the officers at police stations, offices and field duty should consider face mask as part of the uniform. He said that it was the primary responsibility of every officer to ensure safety of his/her subordinate force so that there should not be interruption in the supply of face masks, hand sanitizer and other precautionary equipment to police personnel.

The IG also asked the police officers to pay surprise visits to monitor implementation and compliance with government orders.