KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said on Friday that the ongoing targeted operation was launched in consultation with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and it had yielded positive results with regard to elimination of terrorism, targeted killing, kidnapping for ransom and extortion.

He said this while talking to newsmen at the 87th passing-out parade of the Sindh police at the Saeedabad Police Training College.

Some 510 male and female police personnel participated in the passing-out parade. The CM also spoke at the ceremony, distributed prizes and shields among the position holders of the training courses.

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He said the country was passing through a crucial period and routine life in Sindh, Karachi in particular, had been virtually paralysed due to terrorism and lawlessness.

He said that targeted killing, kidnapping for ransom, extortion and terrorism had emerged as a big challenge for the government.

He claimed that the result of the government’s effective strategy and coordinated performance of the police and Rangers was evident from the fact that now there was not a single case of kidnapping for ransom, traders were not receiving any extortion slips and targeted killing had become almost nonexistent.

The police and the Rangers played an important role not only in restoring law and order across the province, but had successfully solved the cases of Shikarpur imambargah bombing and assassination of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl leader Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro.

The CM said that the law and order problem was not only in Karachi but throughout the country.

He said that the government came up to the expectations of the people and was making all-out efforts to restore a durable peace to Karachi.

He pointed out that the police were being trained by retired army officials so that they could meet any challenge effectively.

Mr Shah said that it was the top priority of the government to increase the salaries of the policemen and equip them with modern weapons.

He said that the government had raised the budget of the police department from Rs13 billion to Rs60bn.

He said that the salary of Sindh police had been made equivalent to their counterparts in Punjab and the amount of compensation for the heirs of the policemen killed in the line of duty had also been increased from Rs200,000 to Rs2 million.

He said that the compensation amount would increase further to Rs10m soon.

He also assured the principal of the college, Javed Mahar, that the government would provide necessary funds to set up a hospital and procure ambulances. Funds would also be provided to construct residential flats for the staff of the college and hostels for under-training personnel.

Earlier, in his welcome address the Sindh police chief stressed the need for having a hospital and ambulances at the college to provide medical treatment to the teaching staff and under-training personnel.

He also said that the college, which was established in 1984, had so far trained 17,000 police personnel, including those from Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and personnel of the Federal Investigation Agency.

He said that the police were being trained here to counter terrorist activities and handling of miscreants.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2015

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