LAHORE: The audit report for 2023-24 of the Punjab Home Department reveals the ‘disappearance’ of arms and ammunition worth millions of rupees from the institutions operating under the department’s oversight.
The report presented to the Punjab Assembly details the theft, disappearance and non-recovery of arms from police stores in 12 districts. The total value of the missing equipment is reported to exceed Rs245.5 million, none of which has been recovered to date.
As per the report, weapons worth over Rs83.4m went ‘missing’ from the Muzaffargarh DPO office between 2021 and 2023; arms and bullets valued at over Rs47.1m are unaccounted for in the DIG Operations Lahore office; weapons worth more than Rs46.8m missing from the Police Office Lahore have not been recovered.
Likewise, rifles and ammunition exceeding Rs7.4m value have disappeared from the CPO Multan’s office; the record of rifles issued to various officers in 2009 is missing from the Central Jail Lahore; weapons and equipment valued at Rs5.614m are missing from the DPO Sialkot office; arms worth Rs4.3m are missing from the DPO Sahiwal office; weapons and equipment exceeding Rs3.8m have disappeared from the DPO Okara office.
Home dept orders probe; house echoes with criticism of CCD, proposed Goonda Act
Arms worth Rs3.5m are missing from DPO Gujrat office; weapons and ammunition valued at over Rs2.6m have disappeared from the DPO Faisalabad office.
In response to the alarming findings, Punjab Home Secretary Noorul Amin Mengal has ordered an inquiry into the missing weapons’ report.
An inquiry committee has been formed, headed by the Additional IG Special Branch, with the Director-General Monitoring and Additional Secretary Judicial (Home) as members, says a spokesperson for the department.
The committee has been tasked with submitting a report within 10 days. It will also require responses regarding the irregularities detailed in the audit report.
The home department clarifies that it does not directly store weapons; rather, they are held by law enforcement agencies, who are responsible and accountable for the use of arms. Action will be taken against those found responsible upon receipt of the inquiry report, the spokesperson says quoting the home secretary.
Meanwhile, a general debate on law and order in the Punjab Assembly saw strong criticism from Leader of Opposition Ahmad Khan Bhachar regarding the absence of home department officials from the gallery.
“I am dismayed to see that no representative from the department was present.”
Following Bhachar’s strong objections, Panel of Chairperson Samiullah Khan expressed his displeasure, emphasising that the presence of senior home department officials is mandatory during discussions on law and order. He announced that a letter of disapproval would be sent to the home department regarding their absence.
Despite their absence, the opposition chose not to boycott the session, vowing to deliver speeches that would cause “annoyance to the government”.
Bhachar accused the government of failing completely to establish law and order in the province. He criticised the creation of a crime control department (CCD) that empowered 4,000 individuals despite the existence of a police force of 250,000.
Contradicting government claims of reduced crime, he cited alarming statistics for Lahore: 324 incidents on one day and 370 on another. He also recounted instances of police high-handedness, including stopping MPAs outside Adiala Jail, continued FIRs against them, and leaving them stranded after release. He labeled the Punjab Police as “savage beasts” serving only the “elite class.”
Bhachar condemned the government’s proposed “Goonda Act,” calling it a “black law” from the 1930s British era, designed to empower district intelligence committees and officers to intrude into people’s homes and expose them to sensitive agencies.
Opposition MPA Sheikh Imtiaz regretted that the standing committee chairmen would give protocol to the police officers summoned by the committee in different cases. He claimed that Punjab University students say that most of the ice in the varsity was sold by policemen.
Ahsan Raza, another PTI MPA, criticised the creation of CCD saying it is a system parallel to the police and leading to clash with the police.
Treasury MPA Rana Arshad defended the creation of CCD as a step to improve protection of the people.
Malik Arshad, another PML-N MPA, sought expansion of CCD to the whole province.
Opposition’s Junaid Sahi said CCD could become only a unit of the home department and not a full department. He demanded abolition of the 250,000-strong police department if 4,000 CCD officials could maintain order in the province.
Parliamentary secretary Khalid Ranjha wondered that the opposition cried hoarse on the law and order issue and when a department like CCD is established to improve the situation, it is criticised before giving it time to show performance. He asked why the opposition feared that the Goonda Act was being introduced for them.
Published in Dawn, May 28th, 2025
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