Balochistan Police or Baloch Police[1] (Baloch, Urdu: بلوچستان پولیس) is responsible for Policing urban Balochistan, Pakistan. Its strength is 47645 as of 2024.The current Inspector General of Police, Balochistan is Moazzam Jah Ansari.[2]
Balochistan Police is responsible for the law and order situation in mostly urban areas only, which are called A areas. This division has been in place, in various forms, since the time of the British Raj. Balochistan's rural areas, called B areas, are policed by the Balochistan Levies. The Frontier Corps operates in both areas. This division is seen as a severe handicap by the police as criminals based outside their limited area of jurisdiction can easily plan attacks and run away.
The distinction was eliminated by Musharraf, however, it was brought back by the PPP government of 2008 under CM Balochistan Aslam Raisani. The frequent swings in policy obviously do not allow institution-building and hurt the agencies' abilities to deal with crime.
Since Pakistan's post 9/11 involvement in the War on Terrorism targeted killings, kidnappings, and terrorist attacks have risen substantially. In 2013 there were several bombings targeting the Hazara community in Quetta.[4] and attacks on police including senior officials.
2008 - 2013 PPP Rule
PPP formed a government in Balochistan and ruled in a coalition with Nawab Aslam Raisani as Chief Minister. Aslam Raisana chose Humayan Joegazai as CCPO Quetta, who was known to have close links with lashkar-e-Jhangvi. During the start of his career, he ordered policemen to fire live rounds at Hazara protesters. 25 innocent civilians were killed. He was brought back to Quetta by Raisani and during his tenure, things once again took a turn for the worse, particularly for the Hazara community.
Improvement in 2014
The number of terrorist attacks dropped from 205 in 2013 to 154 in 2014 (a 25 percent decline) and the number of people killed in terrorist attacks fell from around 350 in 2013 to 48 in 2014 (an 86 percent decline).[5]
Organization
Balochistan Constabulary, a reserve police unit of Balochistan police consisting of more than 10,000 personnel [6][7][8] located in the districts of Kharan and Khuzdar, was converted to a unit of Frontier Corps (Balochistan) and named the Kharan Rifles. It was organized at Khuzdar and then moved its HQ to Nokkundi in 1978. The personnel of the constabulary units were then organized as 75 Wing and 76 Wing, while 84 Wing of Chagai Militia was detached from that unit and placed under a command given the name "Kharan Rifles".
Designations
Designations of Balochistan Police are as follow:[9]
Grade
Police Ranks
Abbreviations
BPS-05
Constable
PC
BPS-07
Head Constable
HC
BPS-09
Assistant Sub-Inspector
ASI
BPS-14
Sub-Inspector
SI
BPS-16
Police Inspector
Inspector
BPS-17
Assistant Superintendent of Police
Deputy Superintendent of Police
ASP
DSP
BPS-18
Superintendent of Police
SP
BPS-19
Senior Superintendent of Police/Assistant Inspector General
SSP/AIG
BPS-20
Deputy Inspector General
DIG
BPS-21
Additional Inspector General
Addl. IG
BPS-22
Inspector General of Police
IGP
Posts
SHO, SDPO, DPO, CCPO, RPO and PPO are posts, not ranks. So you may see a lower rank acting at a higher post for some time.[10]
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