Special sexual assault response teams on anvil

The Punjab Police will soon be equipped with Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs), which will crack down on perpetrators of crime against women.

The Cabinet gave the approval to SARTs at a meeting here on Wednesday.

The SARTs will be established in all districts. Its staff will be made up from the sanctioned strength in a revenue-neutral manner, which means without putting any financial burden on the exchequer, by re-designating the post of Sub-inspector.

The restructured police force, with 716 new critical posts against 820 existing non-essential or vacant ones, will focus on the core areas of women’s safety, counter-terrorism, crowd control and anti-riot measures.