KP Assembly adopts privilege motion against IGP

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Wednesday adopted a privilege motion against Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammad Naeem Khan for showing no respect to a lawmaker of the ruling party.

The privilege motion moved by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Humayun Khan hailing from Lower Dir district was adopted unanimously. It asked the provincial police chief to appear before the House Committee as he had mistreated an elected public representative. In his motion, Humayun Khan said he visited the IGP to discuss a public interest issue with him, but he kept him waiting for a long time and during the meeting used abusive language.

He said he was accompanied by another PTI MPA Shafiullah Khan, who is a former police officer and had witnessed the humiliation he had faced at the IGP’s office. Responding to the privilege motion, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Sultan Mohammad Khan said the IGP must explain the reasons of his behaviour to the House Committee. Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) MPA from Tank, Mehmood Khan Bhittani criticized the local police for providing shelter and security to alleged killers of the passengers of a van in his constituency a few weeks ago. He said the incident was reported as if it was a clash between two tribes but actually the attackers were gangsters from Tank and Lakki Marwat districts. He said that more than a dozen people, including two women, were shot dead when the accused opened indiscriminate fire on a passenger van.

“It was an act of terrorism but the media and local police portrayed it as clash between two local tribes,” he said. He added that the families of the victims would stage protest sit-in outside the IGP’s office in Peshawar if the accused were not arrested within a week.

Provincial Minister for Health Dr Hisham Inamullah, who belongs to Lakki Marwat, said the police were not protecting the alleged killers but were conducting raids to arrest them at the earliest.