KARACHI, July 16: Members of the city council on Tuesday strongly criticized the police highhandedness in Karachi and urged the city police chief to clarify certain actions by the department.
The council approved a resolution, deploring delay in the functioning of district public safety commission, and said in its absence, the police had assumed unchecked powers.
The city council in its session on Tuesday approved a resolution presented by Engineer Abdul Aziz, deploring the delay in the functioning of district public safety commission whose half of the members have been elected from the house, but the remaining have not yet been nominated.
The resolution requested the home department to nominate the the remaining independent members of the DPSC and highlight the importance of this body which is empowered to look into complaints lodged by ordinary citizens against the police department.
In another resolution, presented by Saeed Ghani, the city council denounced the implication of Nazim and Naib Nazim of UC Akhter Colony Malik Akhter and Nadeem Akhter Arain in a murder case.
The resolution recalled a murder case in Akhter Colony on July 7, and stated that although it was a dispute between the land-lord and tenants, the area police, with the connivance of the landlord, lodged an FIR against the elected representatives of the area.
Convener of the House, Naib Nazim Karachi Tariq Hasan, has called the city police chief AIGP Asad Jehangir to come to the house on Thursday and clarify the position of police department on the questions put forward by the members.
Muslim Pervaiz, Saeed Ghani, Engineer Abdul Aziz, Imran Bhagpati and some women councillors denounced the police excess on innocent people and said there was no authority to check police actions.
The members deplored the harassment to motorists and motorcyclists in the name of controlling law and order situation and said the traffic police were only interested in issuing challans to increase their share from the amount.
Some of the members even pointed out that many traffic cops prefer staying at inner residential streets rather than controlling traffic on main roads for issuing traffic violation tickets, leaving the main roads at the mercy of transporters.
The council approved two more resolutions: one pertaining to council secretariat and approved that DO, DDO and ADO of the secretariat be read as secretary, deputy secretary and assistant secretary.
The first post-budget session of city council was hit by a protest sit-in and a walkout when Razzaq Siddique pointed out that it was promised by the convener that the council hall would be renovated soon after the budget.
He said we have to sit in a marriage hall-like situation and the authorities are reluctant to give the hall a proper shape.
Razzaq Siddique sat on the floor in protest and other members joined him.
Meanwhile, Najmi Alam and Siddique Rathore spoke against the procedure of operation cleanup for Lyari Expressway and said that the elected representatives were not taken into confidence during the operation.—PPI