Apex Committee okays trials of gun-toting street criminals in special courts

Street criminals who use firearms in crimes will now be treated differently from those who do not carry firearms as the former category of street criminals will be tried in special courts like anti-terrorism courts (ATCs).

The decision was made at the 23rd Apex Committee meeting presided by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at CM House on Monday. The meeting was told that a draft law to deal with street crimes had been submitted to the law department for review. Giving presentation on street crime, Sindh Rangers Director General Major General Mohammad Saeed said 3,641 criminals had been arrested since January 2017, of whom 43 per cent were under matriculation, and 38 per cent illiterate. Among the arrested persons were 2,851 habitual criminals, 648 drug-peddlers, 92 pickpockets and 50 gamblers, he said.

The meeting decided to divide the street criminals in two categories based on whether they used firearms or not. It was decided that street criminals who used arms would be tried in courts like ATCs while others would be tried by special magistrates.

Madaris

Regarding regulation of Madaris in the province, the Apex Committee was told that a provincial working group comprising representatives of various departments and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) had been constituted under Home Secretary Kazi Kabir to regulate Madaris as well as NGOs.

Karachi Corps Commander Lt General Humayun Aziz called for the scrutiny of all the public and private educational institutions. It should be in the government’s notice where the educational institutions were getting funds, how many foreign students were enrolled there and what was the quality of their curriculum, he said. The meeting decided to audit all the private educational institutions.

The Apex Committee also decided that Madaris constructed on main roads would be requested to relocate from the main arteries and no new NOC would be issued for the construction of Madaris on main roads.

The meeting was informed that geo-tagging of all the 10,033 Madaris was completed. Of them, 2,309 Madaris had been closed and 7,724 were functional where 547,695 students, including 818 foreigners, were enrolled.

Safe City and CPEC

It was decided during the last Apex Committee meeting that the Karachi Safe City (KSC) project would be started afresh by hiring a consultant for the project.

The chief secretary told the meeting on Monday that the KSC project had been terminated from public private partnership (PPP) modality and committees comprising representatives of relevant government departments, LEAs and civil society had been constituted to devise a mechanism to streamline the project.

The Rangers DG said the KSC project should not be a mere installation of cameras and it should include a complete security system. The Karachi corps commander called for including the component of cyber security in the KSC project as well.

The meeting decided that the project would be launched on a pilot basis in specified areas such as Red Zone, Sharea Faisal and entry and exit points of the city and then it would be expanded. The home department was given the go-ahead to start the project by inviting expressions of interest from the National Database and Registration Authority, Pakistan Army and Chinese firms.

The Apex Committee was informed that there were 10 China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects under way in Sindh where 2,878 Chinese persons were working. A total of 2,843 LEAs personnel had been deployed for the security of CPEC projects while 843 private security guards were also providing security to such projects.

It was told at the meeting that the Special Branch had carried out a security audit of the CPEC projects and according to the audit report, despite a lapse of three years, there were still security issues regarding such projects, and ambulances and first aid kits were also not available at sites of various projects. The Apex Committee decided to direct the management of all the CPEC projects to overcome their security deficiencies.

NAP implementation

The meeting also discussed the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). It was disclosed that the military courts and ATCs had awarded death penalty to 23 terrorists and life imprisonment to two others. Sixteen terrorists had been executed so far while appeals against 137 verdicts, including 18 of military courts and 119 of ATCs, were pending with the high court.

Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Kaleem Imam said 27,957 cases were under trial in the ATCs of Sindh, of which 468 were fresh cases that were registered between January 1 and 31 October this year.

The meeting also decided to initiate a crackdown on the purchase and selling of stolen mobile phones, motorcycles and four wheelers.

The Apex Committee had earlier decided to file appeals with higher courts against the acquittals of hardened criminals and terrorists. The meeting was told that three such persons had been acquitted and it was decided that appeals would be filed against their acquittals.

The committee also decided that a close coordination would be maintained among prosecutors and investigators of terrorism cases so that acquittals in such cases could be decreased. The CM also directed the prosecutor general to conduct trainings of new prosecutors and develop close coordination with the Rangers’ prosecutors.

Shrines and border security

The IGP informed the meeting that a police station as well as 69 check posts had been established along the Sindh-Balochistan border where a total of 381 police personnel had been deployed. The CM directed the IGP to provide them latest equipment and increase the force, if necessary.

The home secretary said the security audit of 1,899 places of religious significance, including shrines and minorities’ places of worship, in the province had been conducted and security issues were pointed out to the home and Auqaf departments. The CM said he had already released Rs270 million for the purchase of necessary equipment and construction of walls wherever they were required.

The Apex Committee was also told that 62 institutes or buildings named after Altaf Hussain or his family members had been renamed. The IGP also briefed the committee on law and order situation in Katcha areas.

The meeting was also attended by Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Shah, Works Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, Adviser to CM on Law Murtaza Wahab, Sindh advocate general, Additional IG CTD and provincial heads of intelligence agencies.