Fading violence?: ‘80%’ of target killers arrested

Shah says there have been 29 incide­nts since Januar­y this year.

KARACHI:

Compared to the violence over the past few months, target killings dropped last week, said an optimistic chief minister on Wednesday.

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah painted a rather positive picture of the law and order in Karachi, and the rest of the province, at a press conference held at CM House. He was addressing the media after a meeting.

“It’s unfair to call every murder a target killing,” he reiterated and added that the number of target killings had come down in this last week. He counted 29 cases since January and said that “80 per cent” of the suspects had been “arrested and sent to jail”.

Shah, who also holds the home department portfolio, was asked if things had changed since former home minister Zulfiqar Ali Mirza had gone on leave. He replied that they were following the same pattern that Mirza had set.

When asked about Mirza’s return, Shah said he could not give a timeline.

‘Political parties to cooperate’

Shah said that he has asked all political parties in Karachi to cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies and to get rid of the “criminal elements in their ranks”.

He said he issued strict orders to take action against suspects regardless of their party affiliations.

Police progress

Seven target killing cases are being investigated. The chief minister said that 65 cases were registered against criminals in March while 15 FIRs have been lodged in this month so far. The law-enforcement agencies have arrested seven militants with alleged links to the Tehrik-e-Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Laskhar-e-Balochistan. They also seized 100 anti-tank mines, rockets, hand grenades and explosives from the suspects. There were at least 613 police encounters this year across Sindh, in which dozens of criminals were killed while 95 were arrested.

The chief minister said that the agencies rescued 81 people who had been kidnapped for ransom. Eight of them were from the Punjab.

He said that 26 people were kidnapped from Karachi, out of which 19 were found, while the police arrested 22 suspects involved in the kidnappings.

So far this year, the Sindh police have arrested 1,182 suspects, 42 of whom are “notorious criminals”. Meanwhile, the administration is also trying to root out extortionists. They have established check posts in sensitive areas and set up six complaint cells. Anyone can lodge a complaint about extortion any time of the day or night.  “We have also arrested seven extortionists but we will not reveal their identities till investigations are complete,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th,  2011.