167 madrasas shut down in Sindh

Karachi
The law-enforcement agencies have shut down 167 madrasas across Sindh over different reasons, the chief minister was informed on Wednesday in a meeting held to review the progress made in the implementation of the National Action Plan against terrorism.
IGP Ghulam Hyder Jamali told Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah that 21 seminaries in Karachi, Hyderabad, and Badin had been searched by police for their involvement in suspicious activities. Hate literature were found in some of them and cases were registered accordingly.
Home secretary Mukhtar Hussain Soomro told the participants of the meeting that geo-tagging - for accurate geographical data on satellite maps - of 3,662 madrasas had been completed.
Of them, 2,122 are in Karachi and 1,548 in Hyderabad. The process will be completed soon.
He said of the 9,590 seminaries in Sindh, 6,503 had been registered. He added that in the remaining 2,920, 517,695 students were enrolled.
The chief minister thanked religious scholars of different schools of thought for their cooperation in having the seminaries registered. He told the IGP to ensure that religious scholars were taken on board while registering their seminaries or searching them.

Afghan refugees
Speaking about the identification and repatriation of Afghan refugees, the home secretary said that 92,646 Afghans had been registered in the province.
“The states and frontier regions ministry has repatriated 650 families and 3,021 on a voluntary basis so far,” he added. Besides, 35,278 Afghans have been repatriated from Sindh till August this year. He said 720 cases had been registered against illegal Afghan immigrants, 2,100 were arrested, 1,309 nominated in cases, 953 under judicial custody, 356 bailed out and 222 repatriated by the prison IG.

Executions
Soomro said of the 458 condemned prisoners in the province, 18 had been executed. He added that 395 appeals of death row prisoners were pending in the Sindh High Court, one in Federal Shariat Court, 53 in the Supreme Court and five mercy petitions with the with president of Pakistan. The Sindh High Court has stayed four death warrants.
Banned religious outfits
The home secretary said 61 banned religious organisations had been identified. He added that the law enforcement agencies had killed 1,155 terrorists and other criminals, including 164 al Qaeda and Taliban leaders and 130 Lyari-based gangsters between September 2013 and September 2015.
The secretary said 63,055 terrorists and others criminals had been arrested during this period, including 879 al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists and 67 Lyari-based gangsters. Around 16,650 illegal weapons were and explosives were seized.
On the disposal of the cases of suspects handed over to police by Rangers up to August 31, the IGP said 495 had been arrested, 489 challaned, six being interrogated, two convicted and four acquitted.