Cracking down: Police arrest hundreds across Sindh

Police claim to have arrested at least 119 people, registering 29 cases for the violation of Section 144

HYDERABAD/ KARACHI: On the first day of the province-wide lockdown, law enforcement officials detained hundreds of citizens for violating the ban on leaving their homes.

In Karachi, the police claimed to have arrested at least 119 people by the evening, registering 29 cases for the violation of Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the wake of the government’s lockdown orders.

Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon stated that citizens should not unnecessarily leave their houses, advising them to be safe and to safeguard others. Adding that general stores and hospitals would remain open, he appealed to Karachiites to cooperate with the police.

At the same time, Civil Lines SHO Salahuddin Qazi was suspended for mistreating violators of the ban.



South DIG Sharjeel Kharal suspended Qazi after a video of him mistreating citizens and punishing them went viral on social media, said a statement. The SHO was directed to report to the police headquarters, while Kharal ordered all police officials to behave respectfully towards citizens.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people were reportedly detained, punished and even whipped for unnecessary movement on the roads and streets of the Hyderabad police region’s 15 districts. However, the Hyderabad AIG’s office only confirmed 32 arrests and the registration of eight FIRs.

According to the police, 12 people were arrested in the nine districts of Hyderabad range, 19 in three districts of Mirpurkhas range and one in Shaheed Benazirabad range. Furthermore, five citizens were apprehended in Sukkur range and eight in Larkana range.

In Jacobabad district, at least 71 people were arrested for violating Section 144.

*With additional input from APP 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2020.