DIGs told to explain what police are doing to solve 153,000 criminal cases

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Thursday directed the DIGs of all the districts of the province to submit reports with regard to actions being taken to arrest 120,716 absconders and proclaimed offenders involved in crimes as well as about solving the more than 153,000 criminal cases.

The order came on a petition of one Bashiran, who had moved the court against the non-arrest of the culprits involved in the murder of her son Wajid Ali in the Malir area. The SHC had directed the Sindh police to take action against all absconders and proclaimed offenders, freeze their accounts and properties, and write to the State Bank to freeze all money transfers made by the accused.

The court observed that the police rules and the relevant laws permit making all possible efforts to prevent the escape of proclaimed offenders, including placing their names on the exit control list.

The SHC had directed the police to display the names of the absconders and proclaimed offenders on police websites as well as have them published in the print media. The court had also directed the police to file a compliance report, but the provincial law enforcement department submitted a partial compliance report. The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar observed that the report was vague and did not reflect a complete picture regarding compliance of the court order.

The police officer of the legal branch said that more than 82,000 people were declared absconders in criminal cases registered at different police stations across the province, including 32,000 absconders in Karachi cases alone.

The bench observed that the court’s orders regarding the displaying of the names of the accused on police websites and their publishing in newspapers were not complied with yet. The police officer said that over 153,000 cases were still untraceable and the culprits in those cases were yet to be arrested.

The court directed the DIGs of Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Nawabshah and Larkana to submit their reports showing the complete picture of the absconders, the proclaimed offenders and the solving of the untraceable cases in their respective jurisdictions.

The bench ordered that representatives of the DIGs not below the rank of DSP should appear in court along with the compliance reports. The court also ordered that the reports should include the steps being taken by the police considering the compliance of the SHC’s directives issued in the instant case.

The court directed the Sindh prosecutor general to comply with its order with regard to the bifurcation of heinous crime cases and submit a relevant report by September 24. It is pertinent to mention here that the SHC was earlier informed that 67,506 absconders and 53,210 proclaimed offenders were still at large across the province, and that these figures could only be reduced with the assistance of the National Database & Registration Authority and mobile network operators.