CM blames interim govt for poor law and order as he vows swift remedial action

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has stated that his government has been implementing strict measures to improve law and order in the province. These measures include addressing the issue of street crime in Karachi and kidnappings for ransom in the riverine areas of Sindh.

Talking to the media at the Sindh Assembly where he reached to cast his vote in the Senate elections on Tuesday, Shah also acknowledged that the law and order situation during his last tenure (as the CM) was not satisfactory, and it further deteriorated during the caretaker government. However, he said, his government was committed to improving the situation and was taking steps to achieve this goal.

To a question, the CM stated that during his last term, he implemented effective measures to control law and order in the province. He said street crime in the city was brought under control and police pickets were established along the Indus River embankments to restrict the bandits to the Kutcha area. He admitted that although the law and order situation was not perfect, it was not as bad as it was in January and February.

He added that his government was taking strict measures to crush street criminals and dacoits while he promised that the situation would improve shortly.

In response to a question about the Senate elections, Shah indirectly referred to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and stated that those who made tall claims about giving surprises in the Senate elections finally retreated from the arena and boycotted the elections. To a question, he said that the independent candidate in Senate polls Faisal Vawda didn’t belong to the Peoples Party.

Separately, former Sindh home minister Brig (retired) Haris Nawaz said that the CM had his own viewpoint on the security issues while the interim government in the province had done a lot to improve the law and order situation in Sindh in the previous six months.

Appearing on Geo News show ‘Geo Pakistan’, he said the past caretaker government had faced the dual challenge of an increase in street crime incidents and illegal selling of narcotics and chewable forms of tobacco in the city.

He said the worsened law and order situation in Sindh’s riverine belt was another security challenge for the caretaker government. He said the weak police investigation had been the cause behind the increased instances of street robberies in the city.

Nawaz said that owing to weak police investigation, imprisoned suspected robbers were freed in just one to two months after the police caught them. He said that five to six years of jail term was a very lenient punishment handed down to the convicted robbers.

He said the interim Sindh government had adopted the policy of checking the criminal record of an arrested suspect to know how frequently he had committed crimes. The same criminal record of a suspect, against whom a case was pursued, was communicated to the trial court to let it know that the accused in the dock was a habitual offender.

The former caretaker home minister said the main issue was that the complainants became dejected on seeing that the suspects were freed after spending a very brief time behind bars. This situation also encourages the criminals involved in street robberies. Brig (retired) Nawaz said that a criminal should remain behind bars at least for five to seven years for general improvement in the law and order situation.

He said that the conditions of the police stations had been miserable and the police stations shouldn’t disappoint the visiting complainants. Instead, the visitors become frightened upon visiting any police station. He added that the complainants didn’t get any relief at the police stations.

He said the interim Sindh government had installed closed-circuit television cameras at the police stations while an awareness campaign was also launched to let people know how to get relief at the police stations.

Nawaz further said that a recruitment test conducted by the IBA Sukkur had enabled the interim Sindh government to hire 2,500 new personnel to improve the security situation. He said the candidates for these vacancies also had undergone an examination to check their physical fitness.

He disclosed that various quarters had approached the interim provincial government to unduly influence the recruitment process as those who had applied had affiliations with the police and politics.

Brig (retired) Nawaz said the police should discharge their duties with complete responsibility and police personnel should enhance patrolling, especially after sunset.