PSX attack: LEAs told to expedite action against terrorists

Sindh CM believes recent attacks on Rangers, stock exchange carried out by same group

KARACHI:

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to intensify targeted operations against terrorists and further strengthen the intelligence network so that the emerging threat of terrorism could be neutralised.

A police sub-inspector and three security guards were killed when four gunmen tried to enter the Pakistan Stock Exchange building on Monday, while as many as seven people were injured. All four attackers were also killed.

Presiding over a meeting on the law and order situation following the incident, Shah condemned it and called it an attack on the country and its economy.

"We will not tolerate [such attacks] and the attackers will be crushed with an iron fist," he said, adding that he wanted to see those responsible for the attack behind the bars. He also directed the LEAs to send the fingerprints and photos of the gunmen killed in the attack to the National Database and Registration Authority to ascertain their identities.

Shah expressed the belief that the recent attacks on the Rangers in Ghotki, Larkana and Karachi, and the attack on the stock exchange were carried out by the same terrorist group.

"It appears to be an organised group that has started terrorist activities in the province," he said, directing the police, Rangers and other intelligence agencies to start an intelligence-based operation across the province.

The CM further instructed the LEAs to strengthen vigilance at the exit and entry points of all cities as well as the provincial borders.

Moreover, lauding the police and Rangers officials who had neutralised the terrorists, he told the Rangers DG and Sindh IG that he would meet the injured law enforcers. "My words of appreciation must reach to the jawans of the police and Rangers," he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2020.