Islamabad police to revamp CTD, check content on social media

Islamabad: Islamabad police have decided to revamp the counter-terrorism department (CTD) and set up a special unit to prevent violence and extremism.

Inspector General of Police Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan has decided to revamp the CTD as per the vision of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and following the directions of Minister of Interior Rana Sana Ullah Khan.

SP Kamran Aamir Khan has been appointed as In-charge of this department and it would have new `Violence and Extremism Countering Unit’ which will be the first of its kind in Pakistan. It will prepare 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 `Violence and Extremism Countering Unit’ would be supervised by SP.

IGP Islamabad said that teams of Islamabad Capital Police would visit educational institutions and religious seminaries (madrasas) to deliver lectures on the prevention of extremist content on social media.

The services of communication experts will be hired for this unit and the recommendations are being forwarded to the Ministry of Interior to equip the CTD with modern weapons and improve kinetic response.

Apart from this, joint action teams and a modern centre (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.