The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the Sindh Police chief to explain the fate of the 14,162 criminal cases whose charge sheets were submitted in courts against the 17,140 accused arrested during the targeted operation in Karachi.
A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, gave 10 days to the law enforcers to furnish the details during the hearing of the high-profile Karachi law and order suo motu case at the SC's Karachi registry on Monday. Other members of the bench included Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Mushir Alam.
At the outset of Monday's hearing, the judges inquired from the provincial advocate- general, Abdul Fateh Malik, about the implementation on the court's directives given on March 20, earlier this year.
Overall prosecution
The report states that the police have submitted charge sheets in 14,162 cases during the operation against 17,140 accused before the relevant courts. The honourable judges were, however, more interested to know about the fate of the cases in which the charge sheets were submitted.
The report had failed to disclose how many of the cases were declared A class, B class or C class in the report. The bench directed Legal AIGP Ali Sher Jakhrani to furnish a fresh report containing such information within 10 days.
IG's report
The IG's report cited a decrease of 62% in cases of target killings in Karachi since the launch of the targeted operation on September 5, 2013, as compared to the corresponding period before it. During the operation, 225 target killers were arrested and charge sheets against them were submitted in the courts. The courts, meanwhile, have not extended bail to any suspect.
Murders
The report further states that 956 accused, who were wanted or involved in current and old cases of murder, were tracked down. Of these, 611 persons were arrested in fresh murder cases, while 68 proclaimed offenders and 281 absconders were also taken into custody. Investigations into these cases led to the detection of 821 murder cases.
Terrorism
The report states that 58 persons were killed in different acts of terrorism during the operation, compared to 169 persons who were killed during the corresponding period last year. Law enforcers claimed to have arrested 245 terrorists, of whom 242 are in jails while another five are in police custody. Two were, however, granted bail by the courts.
Extortion
The IG's report shows a slight reduction in cases of extortion, as 1,147 FIRs were registered during the operation as compared to 1,245 during the corresponding period before the operation. It said that 321 extortionists were arrested during the operation while another six suspects were killed.
Kidnappings
The report claims that 109 accused in cases of kidnappings were taken into custody, while another nine were killed during the operation in Karachi. "All of the arrested accused are in jail. No bail has been granted in any case," the report says.
Prosecution
Overall, 1,557 suspects involved in 889 criminal cases have been convicted by the courts since the launch of the targeted operation. Besides, 938 new cases were instituted before the five anti-terrorism courts in Karachi, which have convicted the accused in 70 cases.
Cops martyred
The report states that 128 cops were killed in retaliatory attacks by terrorists and criminals during the operation. He added that the police force was attacked a record 24 times during the month of January alone. Five suspects involved in the killings of policemen were killed, while 104 were arrested. Fifty-six cases of cops' murders have been detected.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ