A police chief seeking to win public confidence

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (PAN): Northern Sar-i-Pul police chief, Brig. Gen. Abdul Rauf Taj, says restoring public confidence in the force is his priority number one.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Gen. Taj called the lack of people’s trust in police a major problem in the province.
The police chief, who took up the post 23 days back, believes the situation may be a result of police’s misbehavior with members of the general public.
Pledging to spare no efforts to improve security in Sar-i-Pul, Taj says: "My consistent effort will be to bridge the gap between the people and police. This will encourage the public to trust and support police, who are their servants."
A search operation, launched less than a week back, is ongoing in the insecure areas of Sayad district and Syedabad area of the provincial capital, he confirms.
As a result, Naw Qishlaq, Armalk, Torbaghri and Shah Toot villages of Sayad have been cleared of rebels. Seven insurgents were detained and weapons seized during the operation.  
Elsewhere in the province, according to the police chief, two militants were held with police uniforms and 500 Kalashnikov bullets in Sancharak district.
Two policemen, who joined the Taliban after sexually abusing a 15-year-old girl, were killed, he explained. Taj promised he would project the real image of police to the people in the days to come.