Criminal elements occupy Inter Board office

The change of security company at the Karachi Board of Intermediate Education’s office, despite costing hundreds and thousands of rupees in funds, appears to have done little in terms of bringing any sense of safety to the place.

The board office, located near the infamous Kati Pahari area of North Nazimabad, is notorious for being the city’s criminal nerve centre; ruled by mafias and avoided after dark by the general public.

Per reports, these reprehensive individuals, who operate in organised groups, still occupy different sections of the board office; stationed at almost every corner, starting from the private bank housed at the main entrance to the office building itself.

They tend to prey on approaching students and parents and claim to have linkages inside the department, which they will use to expedite their case in exchange for thousands of rupees, on top of official charges. Surprisingly, these shifty-looking men are not always running a con - oftentimes, they do manage to catalyse an otherwise sluggish governmental process, allegedly with the connivance of the board’s employees.

However, the criminal side of these men truly boils to the fore when students deny their services for any reason. Per various reports, in such cases, they are not only involved in coercing the students but also sometimes snatch their money and make a run for it.

Reports of such incidents had been regularly reaching the authorities, which led to the change in the board office’s security service a few months ago. The new agency called the Police Foundation which renders its services for over Rs250,000 to Rs300,000 a month, despite its hefty bill has also been unable to root out this nuisance from the government office.

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Visitors have alleged that most of the security company’s efforts seem to be focused on making sure that all vehicles entering the Karachi Inter Board are parked away from the chairperson’s office, instead of doing much to sweep out the goons. “There are security guards stationed at the office’s main entrance, but they don’t stop the mafia people or any unrelated person from prancing into the government property,” claimed a visitor on conditions of anonymity.

On the other hand, a member of the security team responding to the claim said they have not been instructed by the Inter Board management to stop any unauthorised persons at the gate, nor have they been told to sweep them out of the various sections of the property.

It should however be noted that while the security team maintains that they have no responsibility to remove these persons so far, various dubious individuals can be seen circling the board’s IT section, which houses all kinds of sensitive data including student records, mark sheets, enrollment forms, registration details, certificates and etc.

According to sources privy to the board office, security teams have tried screening people and removing unauthorised presence from the board office in the past. “These people would just go straight to the chairman’s board office with their regional leaders, and the chairman would be left helpless in front of them,” he alleged.

The Express Tribune reached out to Karachi Inter Board Chairman Prof Saeeduddin for his comments on the matter. Corroborating the aforementioned details, he agreed mafia presence has been a pertinent issue, “but police and rangers are always a call away and show up to sweep them out whenever they get out of control.” Adding further, he said there is a certain VIP culture in the society, where people will easily pay questionable persons to cut the line or expedite their case, which has given rise to the mafia arrangements in the first place. “On our part, we have instructed all the branches of UBL Bank to collect the Inter Board fees while all types of forms are now available online. We are also in talks with courier company TCS to allow students to receive and submit their documents through their channels. However, despite changing our security service, the board office is located in such a criminally popular area that it is somewhat impossible to keep them out,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2022.