LAHORE: The Punjab government on Thursday decided to establish a special unit in the Punjab Police to monitor the operational matters related to the actions against smuggling.
The decision was taken during a meeting jointly presided over by Punjab Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal and Chief Collector Customs (Enforcement) Zulfiqar Ali Chaudhry. The meeting also decided to enhance cooperation among police, intelligence agencies and relevant departments for taking effective measures against the smuggling.
Chief Secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal said that the special unit to be headed by an officer of Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank would supervise the operational matters of actions against the smuggling. He asked the provincial departments to closely work with relevant federal agencies to check smuggling of urea fertilizer and wheat. He mentioned that joint efforts must be continued to end smuggling, adding that the progress would be reviewed regularly in the meeting of the Provincial Taskforce on Anti-Smuggling.
Zulfiqar Ali Chaudhry said that the joint teams comprising customs, administration and police personnel would be deployed to crack down on the sale of smuggled petrol. He said that the petrol pumps selling smuggled petrol must be sealed immediately and should not be opened without the permission of the authority concerned. He said that the support of administration and police is instrumental in reining in the smuggling.
The officials of the home and customs departments gave a briefing at the meeting. They said that check-posts have been established at 56 places in the province to prevent smuggling and full support is being provided by the police to the customs department for intelligence-based operations. The additional chief secretary (home), secretaries of food, agriculture and senior military and police officials attended the meeting.
