KARACHI: During Tuesday’s hearing of a case about the implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgment on the Karachi law and order situation, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry directed the authorities to arrest by Wednesday those responsible for the killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) MPA Syed Manzar Imam, DawnNews reported.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar, had taken up the implementation of the Oct 6, 2011 judgment on the law and order situation and targeted killings in Karachi in which it had held that the “unimaginable brutalities in Karachi” were the result of a turf war aimed at keeping socio-political control over the city.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar said the police in Sindh was politicised which was why the court's ruling had directed that the provincial police should be kept dissociated from politics.

The chief justice said it had come to his knowledge that Ajmal Pahari had also been released.

Responding to which, officials from the Sindh police said the courts were under pressure to release Pahari.

Advocate General Sindh Abdul Fateh Malik said the government had a list of 5,000 Taliban who had entered the city.

Responding to which, Chief Justice Iftikhar said the Taliban were not something that the government could not control.

He moreover directed the authorities to arrest those responsible for the recent killing of the MQM MPA by tomorrow (Jan 23).

The advocate general informed the bench a committee had been constituted in order to nab the killers.

To which, the chief justice said that he did not believe in committees.

In his remarks, Justice Gulzar said committees are constituted when people have no intention of getting the job done.

Furthermore, the chief justice inquired as to whether the government had successfully eliminated unrest from Karachi.

The hearing was later adjourned to Wednesday.