LARKANA, Aug 29: The IG, Sindh police, Syed Kamal Shah, has said that the Sindh police would soon recruit 9,000 constables.

He was speaking at a police darbar held here at Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto Memorial Library on Thursday. The darbar was attended by the police officials from Larkana, Shikarpur and Jacobabad districts.

He said that strength of the Sindh police had decreased from 95,000 to 88,000 and the situation demanded early recruitment.

He said that the sons of the martyred policemen would be given preference for recruitment and their quota had already been earmarked in the recruitment policy.

Under the projects, the police department would serve the widows of martyred policemen and the handicapped police personnel, he said.

He said that a forensic laboratory would be established in Karachi.

He expressed hope about the rise in police salaries but in the same breath added that it would take some time.

SHC: The division bench of Sindh High Court, Circuit Bench, Larkana, on Thursday disposed of a petition of Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, the chief of Sindh National Front, in which he had prayed that a judge of SHC be appointed to probe into the murder of Wahid Bakhsh Bhutto.

The division bench comprised Mr Justice Syed Zawar Hussain Jafferi and Mr Justice Muhammed Afzal Soomro.

The petitioner said that the investigation officers Shahid Iqbal (the then SSP Larkana), Syed Imdad Shah (the then DSP city) and others were torturing the arrested persons — Muhammed Paryal, Akbar, Farakh Qadri and Abdul Samad — to implicate him in the murder case of Wahid Bakhsh Bhutto.

The bench heard the Deputy Advocate General Abdul Fatah Malik, Additional Advocate General (AG) Muhammed Bachal Tunio and Anwar Durrani, the counsel for the petitioner on Thursday.

The former SSP had filed his comments, saying that the evidence against the petitioner (Mumtaz Ali Bhutto) was found inadequate and that his name was not in the final challan.

The witnesses during the course of investigation did not mention the name of the petitioner. Also, the request of the Civil Lines police to call Mumtaz Ali Bhutto was withdrawn.