75 percent of terrified cops go 'missing' in 'death zone' Buner

Peshawar, May 26 (ANI): With the Taliban establishing its writ in the Swat Valley, a large number of police personnel deployed in the region have reportedly run away.

It has been revealed that almost 75 percent of police personnel deployed in Buner District are missing, while over 40 percent of them have not reported on duty in Swat due to the Taliban's expanding writ in the region.

Over 30 per cent of the total Malakand police force has either quit or the cops are not reporting to their police stations for the past several months, The News reports.

"Almost 310 cops out of the total 400 policemen have reportedly deserted the force in Buner while 820 have quit jobs in Swat. The Swat police comprise of around 2000 policemen," sources said.

Not only the local cops, but security personnel from the Elite Police Force (EPF) are also evading repeated duty orders.

Only 100 cops of the Elite Police Force (EPF) and four platoons, comprising around 136 individuals, of the Frontier Constabulary, are reporting for duty, sources added.

It may be noted that the EPF had refused to be deployed in Swat to improve the law and order situation, saying they would prefer quitting their jobs rather than being posted in the 'death zone'.

The inspector general of police (IGP) had directed the cops several times to report to their respective police stations, but all attempts have failed to sway the police officials.

Once considered a plum posting, Swat is now being avoided by the cops. They are using all their contacts to pressurize higher police authorities for transferring them out of the hilly town.

"Twelve officers have been posted as DPO Swat during the past 21 months, out of which three cops even refused to assume the charge. The rest served for some weeks before getting a better posting in other parts of the province and country," sources added. (ANI)