House of leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly raided; SSP Rao Anwaar suspended for not taking provincial govt into confidence
KARACHI: The city witnessed dramatic events on Friday within a span of a few hours causing serious political upheaval as the Leader of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Khwaja Izharul Hassan was arrested and released by SSP Rao Anwaar. The police officer was later suspended from service for his action to arrest the MQM leader.
The sequence of the events shows that before the arrest of the opposition leader, his residence in the Buffer Zone area was raided by the Malir area police apparently on reports that a notorious target killer or more such wanted criminals were hiding there.
The entire drama, including the raid at the residence of the opposition leader, his arrest, and later release from police’s custody, ended within eight hours but only after the prime minister and the Sindh chief minister had to intervene into the matter showing their grave concern over the treatment meted out to the MQM leader.
The arrest of the opposition leader belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement from outside his residence proved to be the most sensational part of the entire episode as police had to wrestle to get the custody of Izharul Hassan amid scuffles and use of coercive means in the presence of his family members and other MQM leaders, who resisted against the police action.
MQM’s senior leader Dr Farooq Sattar, wife of Izhar, opposition leaders and other family members tried to put up resistance against the arrest of Izharul Hassan amid use of high-handed tactics.
Private TV news channels aired footages of the opposition leader being whisked away by police personnel after handcuffing him. He was later bundled into an armoured personnel carrier that took him to the SITE Super Highway Police Station in the Gadap area. The handcuffing and the arrest of the opposition leader caused widespread resentment as leaders of those political parties, which are otherwise considered as bitter foes of the MQM, showed serious concern over the treatment meted out to the Muttahida leader.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was no exception to this situation as he had to telephone the CM, expressing his grave concern over the treatment meted out to the opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly.
The episode led to suspension from service of SSP Malir Rao Anwaar, inquiry against him for his misconduct, while DIG of District East in Karachi Dr Kamran Fazal was also removed from the post as his services, being an officer of the cadre of Police Services of Pakistan, were surrendered to the federal government on the orders of Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah.
This was not the first time SSP Rao Anwaar was removed from the post as he was subjected to similar disciplinary action by the police high-ups after he did a controversial press conference against the MQM last year.
The CM also ordered suspension from service of station house officer of Sohrab Goth police station for unduly raiding and searching the residence of opposition leader without informing the provincial government in advance about his action.
Earlier, the Malir district police raided the house of Izharul Hassan when the opposition leader, along with Deputy Mayor of Karachi Dr Arshad Vohra and MQM's senior leader Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, was meeting the Sindh CM at the Chief Minister's House.
The leader of the opposition and other MQM leaders said that police had raided the house of Izharul Hassan in complete violation of due legal formalities as the raiding party had no search warrants and lady searchers with them to go inside the residence where ladies were present as sanctity of the home of the opposition leader had been gravely violated.
As TV channels aired the news about the raid, Izhar along with senior MQM leaders rushed to his residence to enquire about the incident. Moments later, SSP Rao Anwaar led his team to arrest the opposition leader.
Rao Anwaar, after his suspension from service, informed newsmen that he had arrested the opposition leader for his implication in three criminal cases registered with the Gadap Town area police. He alleged that the opposition leader was also acting as the “chief” of target killers of his area in North Karachi.
The SSP Malir said that he needed no permission from the IG of Sindh Police prior to taking any action or doing any arrest as he had been heading a police force.
The spokesman for the Sindh CM said that SSP Malir Rao Anwaar had arrested the MQM leader from his residence without taking the provincial government into confidence. Later, talking to newsmen, the Sindh CM said that he had ordered the inspector-general of Sindh Police to conduct an inquiry as to why the MQM leader had been arrested.
The CM said that he would take strict action if he found any illegality and misuse of power on the part of the SSP Malir in this case. The CM said that nobody would be allowed to erode the authority of the government as the issue was very serious. He asked the IG Police to submit a detailed report about the incident.
The CM also ordered the IG to personally take custody of the arrested opposition leader from the SITE Super Highway Police Station in order to end his ordeal.
Finally, the opposition leader was taken from the police station of Gadap Town, where he was detained, to the Karachi Police Office on Sharea Faisal, where Additional IG Karachi Mushtaq Maher assisted by DIG District South Azad Khan inquired into the entire incident and ordered the release of Izharul Hassan in the light of directives of the CM.
A statement issued by the Karachi Police said that opposition leader had been arrested on Friday for his implication in FIR No374/2016 registered with the SITE Super Highway Police Station in Malir district. Later, the accused was set free in accordance with Section 497-2 of Code of Criminal Procedure on surrendering personal bond/security by him as further investigation into the case was continuing.
Later, late in the night, talking to newsmen at a press conference, Izhar thanked the prime minister, the Sindh governor, and the CM for showing their personal concern over the matter and giving directives for his release from police custody.
Izharul Hassan called upon the government authorities and high-ups to look into the situation where people belonging to MQM were being dealt with in a high-handed, immoral, unethical, and unlawful manner on a continuous basis, giving the clear-cut impression that their victimisation was being done on systematic lines.
He called upon the federal and provincial authorities to take immediate steps to undo the 'vindictive steps' and the alleged policy of victimization against the MQM.