August 19, 2007	Sunday	Sha’aban 5, 1428

HYDERABAD, Aug 18: The DIG of Hyderabad, Commander (Retd) Shaukat Ali Shah, said on Saturday that 5,000 policemen would soon be recruited to address the problem of shortage of police force in the newly-created districts of Hyderabad region.

He said at a news conference at the Matiari DPO’s office after inaugurating a reporting office that the Sindh government had given approval for the new recruitments. At least 200 new-recruits would be posted in Matiari only, he added.

He said that the department had submitted a five-year comprehensive plan about police to the concerned quarters. Under the orders of PPO (IGP), one air conditioned room with furniture would be reserved at each police station to sit aggrieved parties to provide them immediate relief, he said.

A senior police officer would be present round the clock at this complaint centre to receive public complaints, he said and added he was well aware of the problems being faced by Matiari police and was doing everything possible to solve them.

DEMO: A large number of people, including women, from Adho Jatoi village staged a demonstration outside the press club in protest against a tapedar and Pinyari police for occupying a cattle pen belonging to a widow.

Ms Sahibzadi Jatoi, the, widow, told journalists said that the tapedar, Hassan Zardari, had occupied her cattle pen spread over an acre after changing the property’s ownership.

She alleged that the Pinyari police were hands in gloved with the tapedar and appealed to higher authorities to order an impartial inquiry and help get her property back.

PPP-SB: A large number of activists of People’s Party Parliamentarians and Sindh People’s Students Federation-Shaheed Bhutto staged a demonstration and a sit-in outside the press club on Saturday in protest against defacing of the portraits of late Mir Murtaza Bhutto in Sukkur.

Party leaders, Syed Imran Shah, Dr Lakhmir Palari and Faisal Arain lashed out at the elements who had defaced the portraits of late Mir Murtaza Bhutto and warned the district administration of serious consequences if the miscreants were not arrested.

ARRESTS CONDEMNED: The chairman of the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party, Dr Qadir Magsi, on Saturday condemned the arrest of five activists of Awami National Party.

He warned, in a statement to press, the MQM to desist from victimising its political opponents and said the two workers were held on charges of possessing unlicensed weapons when they were returning from Karachi after participating in the Save Sindh Action Committee's rally.

He claimed that they had licenses at the time of arrest but later police destroyed them at the instance of MQM and demanded that the arrested workers should be released forthwith and the case registered against them should be withdrawn.