ISLAMABAD: Amid growing alarm over the security situation in Karachi, the safety of key government figures is also becoming cause for concern.

In this vein, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani has written to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, specially asking him to provide adequate security to Senator Shahi Syed, who is a prominent leader of the Awami National Party’s (ANP) Sindh chapter.

In his letter to the interior minister, Chairman Rabbani writes that the Karachi-based senator has been receiving frequent threats from extremist and terrorist organisations.

“Please ensure safety of Shahi Syed by providing him foolproof security,” the letter reads.

This letter comes a day after the killing of leading qawwal Amjad Sabri, who was targeted in Liaquatabad. A day earlier, the son of the Sindh High Court’s chief justice was kidnapped from the Schon Circle area, and there has been a recent uptick in incidents of violent crime in the country’s commercial hub.

Shahi Syed told Dawn that during interrogation, a number of captured terrorists had told joint investigation teams that he was among their targets.

The senator claimed he was under “severe threat”, especially after Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel posted to guard several prominent personalities, including himself, Aftab Sherpao and Maulana Fazlur Rehman, were withdrawn.

The ANP leader claimed that he was earlier protected by an FC detail, which was called back by the interior minister soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz came to power in May 2013.

He said he had requested the Senate chairman to ask the interior minister to redeploy the FC personnel for his protection in view of the prevailing security situation.

“Although the Sindh government has provided me with police guards, I am not satisfied with their security arrangements,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2016