ISLAMABAD: A five-member parliamentary committee has been constituted to oversee the Joint Investi­gation Team (JIT) probing SP Tahir Dawar’s kidnapping and murder case.

This was disclosed by Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi while speaking at a press conference on Tuesday. He said the committee would include three lawmakers from the opposition and two from the government side.

The committee, said the minister, would remain in constant contact with the JIT and keep parliament updated about the developments. He said the JIT had already started its work. Two brothers of SP Tahir Dawar and the KP police chief were also present on the occasion.

Mr Afridi said a package of Rs70 million was being given to the family members of the brave police officer, adding that Rs50m would be given to his children, Rs10m each to the sisters and family of SP Dawar’s brother who was also murdered.

He said SP Dawar’s son would be appointed assistant sub-inspector in Islam­abad Police while his brother would also get a job either in police or in the Capital Develop­ment Authority (CDA).

Narrating the events from the time SP Dawar went missing from Islamabad on Oct 27 to when the Afghan government confirmed his martyrdom on Nov 14, he said: “SP Dawar used to receive death threats and his brother and sister-in-law had also been martyred earlier.” The minister pointed out that the slain SP was the bread earner for four families. He vowed to make an example out of those responsible for SP Dawar’s murder and said “we will make sure the case reaches its logical conclusion”.

Answering a question about the recent attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi, he said some elements were conspiring to destabilise Pakistan and these anti-Pakistan elements were also behind the incident. He alleged that a social media campaign against Pakistan was being run from Bangalore and New Delhi.

The state minister said that around 2,000 security cameras worth Rs13 billion had been installed in the federal capital under the safe city project, but none of them had the capability of facial recognition and reading number plates of vehicles. He claimed that the crime rate in the federal capital had declined by 40 per cent after the appointment of the new inspector general of police.

The KP police chief spoke on the reforms and performance of police and said police had sorted out four high-profile cases, including the Mashal Khan murder case. An audio and video recording system would be installed at all provincial police stations to keep a check on any wrongdoing, he added.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2018