KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday directed the city police chief to further strengthen the work of intelligence to ensure peace in the city for the local government elections to be held on July 24 in Karachi division.

However, polling for the first phase of the local government elections is scheduled to be held on June 26 in Sukkur, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Shaheed Benazirabad divisions.

The directives to this effect were given to Additional IG Karachi Javed Alam Odho during a meeting held at Chief Minister House, apparently against the backdrop of the violence that happened during the by-election on NA-240 constituency in Landhi on June 16.

He also directed the city police chief to ask all SSPs to remain active in their respective areas in terms of intelligence-based target operations against outlaws and drug mafia.

Police asked to identify culprits involved in Landhi by-election violence

The chief minister got details of the firing incident and directed the police chief to conduct a thorough inquiry into the incident that claimed a valuable life and created law and order situation during the by-election.

He asked the city police chief to take strict action against the culprits involved in the incident.

The CM said that the culprit(s) involved in the firing must be identified along with their supporters in the inquiry so that strict action could be initiated against them.

Mr Shah said that peace in this city had been restored after a lot of sacrifices and nobody, at any cost, would be allowed to destroy it.

“Every political party has the right to participate in political process but with peace and tranquillity,” he said and added that he would never allow the politics of hatred and killing and violence in the city.

He also directed him to strengthen the intelligence work further so that peace in the city could be strengthened for forthcoming local bodies elections scheduled to be held on July 24.

The by-election in Landhi-Korangi was marred by violence as one person was killed and several others were injured in a firing incident. Among the injured were PSP chairperson Mustafa Kamal and leader Iftikhar Alam.

Police on Friday nominated Pak Sarzameen Party chief Mustafa Kamal and head of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Saad Hussain Rizvi in the FIRs for causing violence during NA-240 by-election held on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2022