PESHAWAR  -  Capital City Police have launched both proactive and preventive policing that result­ed in the busting of 42 gangs and the arrest of 98 outlaws in the month of August, stat­ed Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Syed Ashfaq Anwar here on Monday.

Talking to The Nation, Ashfaq Anwar – who assumed charge as head of Peshawar Police in recent past - said that militan­cy and street crime are two chal­lenges in Peshawar.

“Both the challenges are be­ing tackled through the revital­isation of the Counter Terrorism Department and digital technol­ogy as per the directive of the IGP,” he said.

He said that several cameras have been installed in the red zone, which houses the resi­dences of Governor, Chief Minis­ter, and other dignitaries. “In the entire Peshawar city too, 200 cameras have been installed. The aim is to shift to technolog­ical policing as being performed in various developed coun­tries,” said Ashfaq Anwar, who has been serving in the police force for around two decades. Before posting in Khyber Pa­khtunkhwa, Ashfaq Anwar has also served in the police force in Punjab and Balochistan. The Peshawar Police chief further said one of the causes of the crime rate is also the high in­flation and unemployment rate. “Besides proactive policing such as the identification of trouble points and appropriate actions to ensure peace and security for citizens in the city, the Peshawar Police have also adopted pre­ventive policing under which we are monitoring individuals, pre­viously involved in various ma­fias of robbery, street crimes, dacoity, and other offenses, and being released from jails,” he said. The CCPO said that sever­al criminals arrested in various cases of street crimes, dacoity, robbery, vehicle theft, and mo­torcycle snatching were found to be hailing from neighbouring Afghanistan.

“Certain gangs busted had been snatching and lifting autos, changing their chassis numbers, and obtaining their fake docu­ments before relocating to other cities of the country,” he added.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Peshawar Police said that the op­erations in the month of August also led to a recovery of more than Rs4.83 million in cash from various gangs. 

In addition, he added, 224 sto­len mobile phones, 11 vehicles and 79 motorcycles lifted from various area, 10 tolas of gold or­naments, four rickshaws, lottery bonds worth millions of rupees, and other valuables were also seized.