Sabri’s murder, Shah’s abduction a conspiracy: CM

Karachi

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has termed the assassination of famed qawwal Amjad Sabri a “pre-planned conspiracy” to upset the law and order in the city.

"I would not allow these conspiracies succeed. The conspirators and terrorists would be crushed with iron hands,” the chief minister said while taking notice of the heart-wrenching incident.

Shah was attending a budget session in the Sindh Assembly on Wednesday when he was informed about the firing incident in which Amjad Sabri was shot dead in the jurisdiction of Sharifabad police station.

The chief minister left the session immediately and went to his chamber from where he contacted DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar and Sindh Police IG AD Khawaja. He issued them directives to arrest the culprits. 

The chief minister said that within three days another serious incident had taken place. On June 20, Advocate Awais Shah, son of the Sindh High Court chief justice, was kidnapped at gunpoint in the broad day light from the courtyard of a super market.

He announced a Rs10 million reward for safe recovery of Awais Shah or for the arrest of his kidnappers. 

"I am announcing a Rs10m reward for those who would give information about the place where Awais Shah has been kept or give clues for his recovery or arrest of the culprits," the chief minister said while talking to the IG Police.   

“Today, leading qawal Amjad Sabri and his two friends have been killed. This is very serious and cannot be tolerated," he said.

He directed the IG Police to immediately suspend the services of SHO Sharifabad Farooq Sanjrani and DSP Liaqutabad Aminu Rehman and issue an explanation to the SSP central.

The chief minister also ordered IGP Khawaja to remove from SSP South Dr Farooq and SP Clifton Amjat Hayat from their posts for negligence and deploy officers of good repute in the place of them.

He directed him to increase patrolling in the entire city and provide adequate security to the “soft targets”. 

Latter, the IG police called on the chief minister and briefed him on both the incidents. He told him that his team was working hard to arrest assailants of Amjad Sabri.

He said that some suspects had been arrested and CCTV footage was being collected.

 

Tributes pour in 

The chief minister in a message to the family of Amjad Sabri expressed his profound grief. He said that the late artiste was a valuable asset of Pakistan.

“No singer or qawal will ever be able to fill his vacuum.”

He prayed Almighty Allah to rest the departed soul in the eternal peace and grant courage to the aggrieved family to bear this irreparable loss.         

In another message, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also expressed his grief and anguishes over the assassination of Amjad Sabri in an ambush in Karachi.

He termed the incident an open challenge to the law and order and writ of the state and government.

Condemning the daylight murder of the Qawali maestro, the PPP chairman said that kidnapping of Awais Shah and now the ghastly assassination of Amjad Sabri were part of sinister conspiracy as both incidents appeared professionally organised by the terrorist elements and their sponsors.

Bilawal expressed sympathies with the members of the Sabri family and assured them that the PPP government won’t spare the culprits involved in this brutal killing.

He hoped that the police and the other security agencies would ferret out the killers and bring them to book.

 

Corps commander meets CM

Earlier on the day, the Sindh chief minister met with Karachi Corps Commander Lt General Naveed Mukhtar at the CM House as both discussed the law and order situation and strategy being devised by the law-enforcement agencies for safe recovery of Advocate Awais Ali Shah. During the meeting, both officials emphasised on maintaining close coordination among LEAs for maintaining security situation in the city and for safe recovery of the son of the SHC chief justice.

 

Orders for arrest  

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, in telephonic conversations with Sindh Rangers Director General Bilal Akbar and Sindh Police Inspector General AD Khowaja, directed both the top law-enforcing authorities to ensure arrests of the culprits involved in killing of renowned qawwal Amjad Sabri.

The Sindh governor said that the murder of Amjad Sabri was a grave conspiracy to destroy peace of the city. “The elements involved in this conspiracy could never be tolerated.”

He said that personnel of the army, the Rangers, the police and the other law-enforcement agencies had sacrificed their lives for restoration peace in the city as a handful of the terrorists with a specific mentality had been bent upon destroying the resultant peaceful situation.

“The government with the support of masses would never allow these vicious elements to get successful.”