Only three cases given nod for military courts

Karachi
Of the 64 terrorism cases recommended by the provincial apex committee for speedy trial in military courts, the interior ministry has approved only three of them.
During a meeting of the provincial cabinet on Tuesday, home secretary Mukhtiar Soomro said under the National Action Plan, 661 banned religious outfits had been identified. Besides, 447 terrorists and other criminals had been killed by police and 41,077 arrested this year.
Around 753 cases have been registered under the Loudspeaker Act and 417 people arrested in this connection. In addition, 24 cases have been registered against producing or distributing hate material and 28 people rounded up in this regard.
The secretary said the provincial authorities were coordinating with the FIA and the central bank to cut off terrorism funding.
He said the counter-terrorism department had been formed, initially with 100 personnel. IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali said 2,000 retired army, Rangers and police personnel had been recruited to strengthen the department.
“The CTD has started working and killed 199 terrorists and arrested 62 so far,” he added.
The department is currently housed at the Saeedabad police training college.
Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah directed the officials concerned to submit to him a detailed proposal for office accommodation and other logistics required for the CTD.

Registration of madrassas
The home secretary said of the 9,590 madrassas in the province, 6,503 had been registered.
He added that in the remaining 3,078 madrassas, 517,696 students, including foreigners, were enrolled.
The secretary said a witness protection mechanism was provided in the Witness Protection Act 2013, the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 and the Pakistan Protection Act 2014.
To improve the process of investigation, funds had been reserved and a DNA-testing laboratory set up at the LUMHS, Jamshoro and the Dow University in Karachi.
A forensic laboratory is being built and 200 inspectors who would be law graduates are also being hired.

Illegal immigrants
The home secretary said around one million Afghan refugees were living in Sindh and if other unregistered foreigners were included, the figure would reach two million.
He said meetings with the officials of the Ministry for States and Frontier Regions, the Afghan refugees commissioner and NADRA were held wherein it was agreed that 18 centres for the registration of Afghans and other foreigners would be set up in the province, of them seven in Karachi, four in Hyderabad, two in Shaheed Benazirabad, two in Sukkur , two in Mirpuurkhas and one in Larkana.
Hindu Marriage Act
The home secretary said the government had zero tolerance for religious persecution and a Hindu Marriage Act was under consideration for which a meeting was held with representatives of the community on June 3.
“We also held a meeting with the Bohra and Ismaili communities,” he added.
The chief minister directed the law department to sped up the process of drafting a Hindu marriage bill so that it could be introduced in the next provincial assembly session.
Safoora Goth attack
The IGP told the cabinet that the men arrested for the Safoora Goth attack had confessed to their involvement in 37 cases of terrorism in Karachi and Hyderabad. He said these men used code names and Talkray, a voice over internet protocol software, for communication.

Lyari operation
The IGP further said 81 Lyari-based gangsters had been killed this year and kidnappings for ransom, highway robberies and bank heists had reduced significantly.

Development funds
Finance minister Murad Ali Shah told the cabinet that during the outgoing fiscal year, he had released Rs118 billion for development schemes.
The chief minister directed the provincial ministers to monitor the progress of the development schemes related to their departments and ensure their quality, proper pace of work and timely completion.

Heatwave deaths ignored
The provincial cabinet was expected to discuss the large number of heat-related deaths in Karachi and other parts of the province in Ramazan and also the related power crisis, but the issue was not taken up.
Highlights of the meeting
* Home secretary says 661 banned religious outfits identified, 753 cases registered under Loudspeaker Act
* 28 people arrested for producing or distributing hate material
* 6,503 of 9,590 madrassas in the province registered, 18 centres to be set up for registration of Afghans
* Law department instructed to speed up process of drafting Hindu marriage bill