Law and Order Loralai
For maintenance of law and order, the Deputy Commissioner wears the cap of District Magistrate. As such he derives powers from various enactments e.g. Cr. PC, MPO etc. For the purpose of legal and territorial jurisdiction, the district is divided into "A" and "B" areas. "A" area’s of 8 Km radius around towns of Loralai, Duki and Sinjavi. The remaining area of the District is "B" area. In "A" area, the responsibility for control of crime and maintenance of law and order lies with the Police which is headed by a Superintendent of Police. In "B" area it is the responsibility of Levies which are headed by the Assistant Commissioner. The Revenue Officers i.e. Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, Tehsildar and Naib Tehsildar are directly responsible to implement law and maintain order in the society. There are two Sub-Divisional Magistrates (at Duki and Bori), with one SDPO in each sub-division. There are Tehsildar / Magistrates Class II in Duki and Bori, and Naib-Tehsildar at Sinjavi and Makhter. The total strength of civil administration is shown in annex (10).
The total strength of the Police in "A" area of Loralai district comprises 309 upper/ lower subordinates and 3 officers. This force manages law and order in roughly 81 square kms. The strength of Police force is given in annex (10).
For "B" areas normally the available force consists of levies. At times of need it is reinforced by deploying BRP (Balochistan Reserve Police) or the F.C. (Frontier Crops) according to the gravity of the situation. Total levies force in the District comprises (91) Upper Sub-ordinates and (368) lower sub-ordinates which makes a total of (459) personnel. Out of these, 251 are agency levies. A survey of the levies force in this District is given in annex (10).
The levies are deployed mostly at night at road side pickets (29) on Loralai-DG Khan, Loralai-Ziarat, Loralai-Duki, Duki Kohlu roads to control highway offences. The remaining Levies are deployed at (13) levies Thanas in "B" area which deal with crimes committed in the respective areas of jurisdiction.
The cardinal rule for levies used to be "joint tribal responsibility". With the legal and political changes in society, the strength of this rule stands diluted whereas levies are still working according to the old pattern. Levies are not a trained or properly disciplined force. Its efficiency mostly depends on tribal backing and traditions.
Overall law and order situation in Loralai District is satisfactory under control. This can be gauged from the crimes committed and the detection rate between the period 8/1993 to 6/1994. Out of all the 30 cases in a span of roughly one year, two cases of vehicles lifting and seven cases of murder took place in "B" area and the rest in "A" area. Except for one case, all (8) murder cases were solved and the accused were arrested.
Loralai District except Duki Tehsil is tribal (PATA). In spite of all socio-economic developments, crime still is collective in nature as a result of the tribal system. After withdrawal of Ordinance-II of 1968, there is a legal vacuum which is causing great hindrances in managing the tribes.
Regular Law is not in consonance with the social norms of this area. The required judicial set-up and operations is insufficient. However, it may very well be that potential offenders are corrected by the prospect of having to face a trial which involves high costs and is against their tribal traditions.
Normally the District Magistrate is responsible for maintaining Law and order. However, with the passage of time the District Magistrate’s authority has been crippled by outside factors. He can not even transfer or take disciplinary action against a Levy Sepoy. A force which looks the other way and takes protection under the umbrella of others, is bound to loose discipline and degenerate.
The Tehsildar/ Naib Tehsildar are treated merely as Revenue Officers whereas they are also custodians of law in their respective areas. As such they are responsible for maintenance of law and order. When posting/ transferring them, this aspect is totally ignored and no consideration is given to the District Magistrate/ Commissioner’s recommendations. They have attained political patronage which in most of the cases is detrimental to law and order.
In spite of the fact that the levies are one of the law enforcing agencies, it is being governed by Civil servant’s E&D Rules. This is against the requirements of discipline for a force.
Levies are so ill-equipped and ill-trained that it cannot be considered to be an effective law and order force. In practice it serves more as an agency processing cases to other institutions. In recent years not a single complete uniform is provided to them. They may have been seldom provided other articles for the execution of duties. They are virtually absent employees, more loyal to the original service holder than to the state. A misfit/ imbalance of responsibility and authority is leading towards virtual denial of the writ of the Government. The law is still the same but the order has changed. The various government agencies follow their own paths but fail to deliver the goods to the public. The result is confusion, which is increasing day by day.