By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Capital Police have decided to revamp the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and set up a Violent Extremism Prevention Unit.
IGP Islamabad Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan has decided to revamp the CTD as per the vision of Prime Minister of Islamic Republic of Pakistan Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and following the directions of Minister for Interior Rana Sana Ullah Khan.
SP Kamran Aamir Khan has been appointed as in-charge of this department and it would have a new `Violent Extremism Prevention Unit’ which will be the first of its kind in Pakistan. It will prepare its action plan by reviewing the political, linguistic and religious extremism content on social media or other websites.
The CTD would have Operations and Intelligence Wings while the newly established “Violent Extremism Prevention Unit” would be supervised by SP.
IGP Islamabad said that teams of Islamabad Capital Police will go to educational institutions and religious seminaries (madrasas) and conduct lectures/measures to prevent extremism. The unit will also monitor sermons in mosques while it will review the political, linguistic, and religiously extremist content on social media as well as websites and submit its report, besides identifying crimes related to extremism the police and CTD will work together and take prompt action against such elements.
The services of communication experts will be hired for this unit. So that the minds of the young generation can be changed according to the national narrative, recommendations will also be made for legislation in this regard.
The recommendations are being forwarded to the Ministry of Interior to equip the CTD with modern weapons and improve quick response. Apart from this, joint action teams and a modern center (Digital Hub) are being established, which will include economic and legal experts.
IGP Islamabad Dr. Akbar Nasir Khan said that CTD’s reorganization would play an important role to improve its overall performance, ensure further effective security of the city and prevent incidents of terrorism and extremism.
Islamabad Capital Police, he said, is taking comprehensive measures for security in the federal capital and such restructuring of CTD will prove to be more effective.
