Four officials of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Sindh police have been dismissed as they were found to be involvement in short-term kidnappings in Karachi.
This is not the first such case as earlier in the recent past, at least two times, CTD officers and personnel were punished for their involvement in criminal cases.
The orders for the dismissal of sub-inspector Rafaqat Ali, ASI Liaqat Ali, ASI Jahanzeb and ASI Muhammad Haris from service were issued by CTD DIG Asif Aijaz Sheikh. The four cops were posted at the ATFU/Investigation CTD.
Their involvement in criminal activities was noticed when a police mobile van illegally apprehended a citizen, Jasim Ali, along with his three friends Umer Farooq, Imran and Usama within the jurisdiction of the Tipu Sultan police station.
Later, Ali was released against the payment of Rs400,000 as illegal gratification. The FIR No 119/24 under the sections 342, 384, 385, 386, 109, 506, 504 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) was registered against the four CTD officials at the Tipu Sultan police station on April 6. “Due to your criminal act you have brought bad name to the department, which shows that you are a corrupt and criminal minded police officers and your further retention in police department will reflect worst impression amongst the general public,” the dismissal order stated.
The inquiry report stated that these officers raided and picked up the complainant and his friends, and detained them at the CTD Garden office.
CCTV footage also corroborated the narrative of the complainant, Ali, whose friends were released shortly after their detention. Ali was released after the kidnappers collected Rs400,000 as illegal gratification.
The inquiry officer recommended awarding major punishment to the four cops as they were found involved in the nefarious kidnapping act that brought a bad name to the CTD.
It was stated in the report that the officers also failed to submit written replies within the stipulated period, which proved that they had nothing to say in their defence. They were then issued a final show-cause notice but they again failed to submit replies. It is not the first case where officers from specialised police units have been found involved in criminal activities such as kidnapping for ransom and extortion.
In a case that occurred on January 13, an inspector of the CTD was forced to retire, and four other cops were dismissed from service for robbing a retired police officer’s house in the Saeedabad area.
Also in January this year, CTD officers Muhammad Fahim and Muhammad Ahmed were found involved in short term kidnappings and dismissed from service.
Later, on March 12, then inspector general (IG) of police Riffat Mukhtar Raja initiated an inquiry against CTD Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Syed Fida Hussain Shah following allegations of illegal arrest, torture and detention of a businessman. The inquiry report has not been made public and no action has been taken yet. All these incidents occurred during the tenure of CTD DIG Shaikh. When contacted, he was not available for comments.