DERA ISMAIL KHAN:The police chief of the district Dera Ismail Khan has underlined the need for quarters concerned to take measures for addressing the root causes of terrorism, raising its ugly head in various districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Dera Ismail Khan.
“I tell you that terrorism is an extreme response to bad governance, injustices, political and other grievances, and all these factors cause sense of deprivation among people, so it is a bit difficult to overcome the menace of terrorism unless such root causes are addressed,” District Police Officer(DPO) Capt(retd) Najamul Hasnain said during interaction with senior journalists at his office.
In Dera district, the DPO said that terrorism should be viewed through a different perspective as it was a “grown-home menace caused by underlying factors of poverty, injustice or bad governance and such situation exploited by the splinter groups of militants.”
“In Dera Ismail Khan it was a bit difficult to root out the menace of terrorism as terrorists had local facilitators who knew everyone and can conveniently target law enforcement personnel or civilians,”he said.
But, he added the valiant police force of the district had made deep inroads into ranks of the miscreants, eliminating a number of hardcore terrorists of the splinter factions of the TTP including Bali Khyara group, Gandapur group, besides those of Al-Qaida(AQS) remnants during successful operations in restive areas Kulachi Tehsil.
He rejected reports about terrorists entering into the district following social media reports about breakdown of talks with TTP, saying no truth in such reports, also adding that police was fully committed to protecting lives and property of citizens.
Replying to a question, the police chief said district police were already overstretched, lacking resources and providing cover to polio teams or any VVIP movement further made matters worse.
Similarly, the DPO recalled when devastating floods hit various parts of the district and police personnel were also mobilized to provide security and facilitate people, robberies increased at various parts of the area.
But police successfully brought the situation under control and several robbers were arrested.
To overcome these challenging issues, the DPO said that a polio drive was now conducted in phases in the district which was stretching over 12000 square km with a scattered population in order to provide security to all polio teams which were about 1800 in number.
He said during his tenure, the investigation process had been strengthened unlike in the past when the acquittal rate was substantially high and criminals would get off scot-free.
Earlier, several posts were wound up as police deployment was of no use at these points, other than heightening tension among people, adding the step would enable them to make best use of the police.