ACLC chief removed as inquiry in Intizar murder case proceeds

SSP Muqaddas Haider claims to have no link with the incident

KARACHI: Administration AIG at the Central Police Office (CPO) Syed Asad Raza has been transferred and posted as the new chief of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) replacing SSP Muqaddas Haider, with two more officials of the ACLC also removed from their posts following initiation of an inquiry into the murder of a youth, Intizar Ahmed, who was shot dead in Defence Housing Authority.

SSP Haider, who is a retired lieutenant commander, was removed from his post by the Sindh inspector-general (IG) of police on Thursday. AIG Raza was posted on Friday in place of SSP Haider.

"In exercise of the authority conferred vide para 96(c) of the judgment of honorable high court of Sindh, Karachi, Syed Asad Raza, an officer of Police Service of Pakistan, assistant inspector-general of police of administration at CPO Karachi, is transferred and posted with immediate effect and until further orders as ACLC SSP against an existing vacancy," reads a notification issued on Friday by the IG.

Besides removing SSP Haider, the IG also removed two more DSP-ranked officers posted at the ACLC. The DSPs included Muhammad Akram Mughal and Abdul Ghaffar Jumani. Both were directed to report to the CPO.



"I have been removed from my post as a departmental inquiry is going on and soon a judicial inquiry will also be initiated," SSP Haider told The Express Tribune. When asked about the reason behind his removal from the post of ACLC chief, he remarked, "it is generally perceived that a sitting officer tries to influence any inquiry conducted against him or his department".

Intizar was shot dead late on Saturday evening on Khayaban-e-Ittehad after officials of the ACLC - the Karachi police's specialised cell - resorted to indiscriminate firing on a white Corolla, killing the victim on the spot.

Though the police had initially claimed that the youth was killed in an act of targeted killing by at least two armed assailants riding a motorcycle, later, it was revealed that the ACLC personnel were behind the killing. Initially, nine ACLC personnel were identified as suspects in the case. The Darakhshan police arrested eight of them, while the remaining one has yet to be nabbed.

The arrested ACLC cops included the two personal gunmen of SSP Haider - constables Bilal and Daniyal. However, SSP Haider denied his personal involvement in the incident. "ACLC SHO Tariq Mehmood called Bilal and Daniyal to participate in the raid in his own capacity, while both the gunmen took part in the incident in their own capacity. I do not have any direct or indirect link with it," SSP Haider said.



It has also been reported that one of the pistols used in the incident was owned by SSP Haider, who has refuted such reports. "I have orders which confirm that both the guns were issued to my gunmen on their names and I have produced these orders before the inquiry committee," SSP Haider claimed.