KARACHI: The provincial cabinet of Sindh, annoyed and frustrated by the mounting incidents of crime including kidnappings for ransom, particularly of girls, car and motorbike snatchings, killing of innocent people by police firing and abject failure of the Inspector General of Police Kalim Imam (IGP) to control the overall situation and discipline the errant officers, has called upon the federal government to withdraw the services of the incumbent IGP Sindh.
The cabinet also asked to post an experienced senior police officer from the panel to be sent to the Centre for the purpose.
The provincial cabinet meeting with this single-point agenda was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah here on Wednesday at the CM House. The Chief Secretary, Mumtaz Shah, all provincial cabinet members and advisers, principal secretary to chief minister, home secretary, secretary law attended the meeting. The cabinet at the outset of its proceedings observed that the IGP Kalim Imam had failed to control crimes in the province and on top of it he had violated discipline repeatedly, including making direct correspondence and direct contact with the foreign missions and embassies without prior approval of the government and Foreign Office.
It was pointed out that the IG police had written a letter to the chief minister to surrender the services of DIG Khadim Rind to the federal government. After some time, he sent a reminder to the chief minister. When the chief minister surrendered the services of DIG Khadim Rind to the federal government, the IG police sent a `secret’ letter to the chief secretary and protested with him on surrendering the services of the DIG in question without his knowledge and leaked a copy of the letter to the media, embarrassing the provincial government in the eyes of the people, the cabinet observed.
It was also disclosed that the IG Police had insisted on posting the incumbent SSP for Shikarpur. The IGP was told that the proposed SSP was totally new to the province and Shikarpur was a sensitive district in terms of its tribal composition and feuds. Even then the SSP was posted in Shikarpur at the insistence of the IG. The SSP Shikarpur failed to control law and order and the incidents of kidnapping for ransom increased day by day in the district. When the people of the district started protests, the SSP in question started rounding up people in narcotics cases and even one of the arrested youngsters was killed by ruthless police torture. In another case of extreme injustice, the SSP registered a case under Anti-Terrorism Act against 22 villagers. The relevant DIG inquired into the cases and wrote against the highhandedness of the SSP. Instead of taking action against the SSP, the IG Police defended him, the cabinet noted.
The provincial cabinet also noted the kidnapping cases of Bisma and Dua Mangi who were released by their captors after payment of ransom. The cabinet also cited the case of Irshad Ranjhani who was shot publicly by one Raheem Shah at Bhains Colony. The police instead of taking Irshad Ranjahi to hospital took him to police station in their mobile. "On the way the police let Raheem Shah die of bleeding." The IG police instead of taking action against the police started defending them. This callous incident led to ethnic violence in interior of Sindh. Four innocent Pathans of tribal area were killed in Larkana. At this the chief minister pointed out the killers of the four innocent Pathans had been arrested.
Besides the brazen disregard for indiscipline and service delivery among police officers, the IG Kalim Imam, the cabinet observed in violation of rules and regulations and the SOPs of the federal government was directly corresponding with foreign missions working in Karachi and Islamabad.
The cabinet unanimously called upon the federal government to withdraw the services of the Dr Kaleem Imam and post one of the senior officers who has served in Sindh, in his place, for which the provincial cabinet recommended four names unanimously. The chief minister read out a list of 30 police officers of grade BPS -21 and BPS-22 to the cabinet to finalse a panel of three officers. The cabinet finalized the names of Ghulam Qadir Thebo, Mushtaq Maher, Sanaullah Abbasi and Kamran Fazal. The chief minister said that Sanaullah Abbasi has recently been posted as IG Police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even then he would request the federal government to secure his services for Sindh Police.
The cabinet unanimously said that the IG Police Dr Kaleem Imam has lost the confidence of the cabinet, therefore he must be replaced. The cabinet asked the chief minister to request the prime minister to change the IG Police, Sindh as recommended by the cabinet so that law and order and overall police performance could be improved in the province. The cabinet also requested the chief minister to initiate disciplinary action against the IG Police Dr Kaleem Imam by sending a detailed statement with evidence of his misconduct and his failure to follow the provincial rules and regulations to the Establishment Division.