KARACHI: The newly-appointed city police chief on Friday hinted at launching a major drive to purge the institution of ‘the black sheep’, disclosing that a number of officers had already faced the axe in line with recommendations of the Sindh apex committee.

“You will see action soon against all those black sheep in our ranks,” additional IG Mushtaq Mahar told reporters after attending a ceremony at the anti-car lifting cell (ACLC) to hand over more than 50 vehicles to their owners, which were recovered during different operations by the specialised unit.

“We are posting, transferring and appointing officers of good repute at every police station across the city. A number of those station house officers (SHOs) whose reputation came under question during the Sindh apex committee meeting have already been removed from their positions. Such action would continue in line with the institutional reforms.”

He said removal or termination of such officers was not enough as the Karachi police would also go for legal action and prosecute all those personnel found linked with any criminal activity.

“The Karachi operation would be expedited further and to make its results more effective we have to make our investigation system stronger. For that purpose we have already initiated a programme which would start bear fruit soon,” he added.

He appreciated the ACLC success headed by SP Irfan Bahadur, which in the shortest possible time recovered some 56 vehicles, traced their owners and handed them over to their owners. Such effort, he said, would help build people’s confidence in the Karachi police.

“This ACLC job is reflective of our plan to make the police more reliable for people of Karachi and reform it into citizen-friendly institution. You would see sooner or later other arms of the police would follow this ACLC trend and bring positive changes in their public-related affairs,” added Additional IG Mahar.

Earlier, the Karachi police chief along with DIG CID Abdullah Sheikh and SP ACLC Irfan Bahadur handed over keys and relevant documents to 56 owners of different vehicles whose two-wheelers and four-wheelers were either snatched or stolen in different parts of the city and they approached the ACLC with their complaints.

Meanwhile, at the central police office (CPO) Sindh IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali chaired a meeting and called for devising an effective strategy and concrete line of action for the elimination of narcotics and gambling dens in the metropolis.

“The Sindh IG stressed that such a drive should be carried out without any distinction and cases against the arrested accused should be on the basis of strong evidence so as to take these to their logical conclusion,” said a statement issued by the CPO.

“The meeting was informed that during the past 15 days, 61 narcotics and 46 dens of gambling were eliminated in different areas of the metropolis. Additional IG Mahar assured the meeting that all required steps would be undertaken for the elimination of the remaining narcotics and gambling dens in the next 15 days in the city.”

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2015

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