s Chaand Raat approaches, Lahore police have made special arrangements for the security of the public as well as government installations. The purpose is to thwart a possible terrorist attack.

Just how well equipped the department is to do the needful is the question. Do they have a sound intelligence-based strategy? In the absence of their own espionage network, can Lahore Police successfully counter the nefarious designs of the terrorists?

Can they bank on intelligence shared by agencies like the Counter-Terrorism Department and the Intelligence Bureau?

It appears that the police are still relying on the watch-and-ward part of policing.

Speaking to The News on Sunday, SSP (Operations) Tassawar Iqbal says that the city police don’t have an espionage network like the CTD, the IB or other intelligence agencies. However, he says, the department has its own intelligence system headed by SP Security. “It’s an arrangement under which one or two staff members at every police station perform their duties in plainclothes,” he says.

“We also get tip-offs from the intelligence agencies.”

Within the district police, Iqbal says, a police station is the basic source of information. This information can be quite rudimentary but it can trigger further information gathering and analysis by the intelligence agencies.

He says that the routine information gathering has on many occasions led the intelligence agencies to make important arrests. “You could say that the police information network helps the intelligence agencies in their work.

“The intelligence system at police stations monitors the movement of the public in their respective areas by keeping record of residents and tenants etc. If a suspicious activity is noticed, further information-gathering process is initiated.”

“The intelligence system at police stations monitors the movement of the public in their respective areas, keeping record of residents etc. If a suspicious activity is noticed, further information gathering is initiated by the intelligence agencies.”

The SSP says that “the threat [of a terrorist attack] is very real; it has its own dynamics. The police are prepared to deal with it. We are making all-out efforts to safeguard the life and property of the citizens.”

The SSP says that Civil Lines, Iqbal Town and City Divisions fall in the category of ‘sensitive’ areas. Extensive search operations have been conducted in these areas to check the presence and movement of suspicious elements.

“We are working on a strategy to make it harder for potential terrorists to reach their targets by adding layers of security around all sensitive installations in the city.”

He mentions reports about half a dozen Afghanistan-based terrorist organisations joining hands to carry out subversive activities in Pakistan. However, he says he doesn’t believe that Lahore is the primary target for those groups.

Ahsan Zia is a print and broadcast journalist