Gabol’s house ‘raided’ after he resigns

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Fayyaz Leghari denies that a raid had taken place.

KARACHI:

Police have reportedly ‘raided’ the house of Minister of State for Ports and Shipping Nabeel Gabol hours after he resigned from his cabinet post on Tuesday.

Gabol, a close confidant of President Asif Ali Zardari and a central leader of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), told a news channel from an undisclosed location that a heavy contingent of law-enforcement agencies raided his bungalow in the Defence Housing Authority, Karachi. “The law enforcers detained my security guards,” he said.

However, surprisingly, the Karachi police denied the reported raid outright. “We only withdrew security from his bungalow as he has resigned from ministership,” Deputy Inspector-General (Investigations) Iftikhar Tarar told The Express Tribune. “Four policemen were deputed to stand guard at his bungalow – and all of them have been withdrawn,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Gabol resigned from his cabinet post saying that he was quitting because he felt powerless in taking important decisions within his ministry. A one-line handout by the media office of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, however, attributed the decision to unspecified personal reasons.

Officials and PPP insiders said that the resignation came after Gabol failed to convince the government to abandon the idea of conducting what appeared to be a select operation in a part of Karachi.

Sources said that Gabol stepped down in protest against a massive operation by Rangers and police commandos in Orangi Town and a possible crackdown in his home constituency of Lyari.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani spoke to Gabol  following his resignation but failed to make him review his decision. Gabol said that he would not continue as a cabinet member even if the prime minister did not accept his resignation.

Sources said that the government has put Gabol’s name on the Exit Control List (ECL) in an attempt to stop him from going abroad.

Though Gabol himself told the media in Karachi that he would let the public know about factors behind his resignation at a news conference on Thursday (today), PPP officials said they were political rather than ministerial.“He would have resigned earlier, had there been anything wrong with his ministry… I tell you he resigned for political things… he has to contest the next election and most of his voters are from the same gangs that are being nabbed by the police,” one official said, commenting on what caused Gabol to quit the cabinet so abruptly.

It wasn’t evident either from Gabol’s statement or from the statement by the prime minister’s office that the resignation would be accepted.

There have been several incidents in the recent past where ministers and lawmakers have resigned from the slot they hold, only to be convinced by their parties or the government to rethink their decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th,  2011.