New police chief assures force working to control target killings

Leghari says some success in clamping down on target killings, a lot more needs to be done.

KARACHI: Karachi’s newly appointed chief of police Fayyaz Leghari has said that the force is trying to work out a strategy to clamp down on target killings with the help of other intelligence agencies.

“So far, we have had some success but a lot of work still needs to be done,” said the CCPO Karachi in an interview with Express TV.

Leghari was quick to give examples of successes. Recently the city police busted a gang of six people, who were involved in the killings of not only senior police officials but also other people. “So far,  we have been able to solve 32 cases of such killings in the city,” he said. According to him, the interfaces of the areas where different ethnic communities live are the source of trouble and the police have planned to man them in order to control the situation. “Orangi Town, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and some areas of the West zone are sensitive,” he went on to say.

According to police records so far a little more than 148 target killings have taken place.

He sees target killings as a sensitive issue, saying that the police first had to differentiate between ethnic, sectarian and random killings. “Sanity is prevailing among people and politicians regarding this issue,” he said, adding: “This can be a conspiracy to destabilise Karachi.”

According to the CCPO, he has directed the force to have a zero-tolerance policy for pillion riding.

“Pillion riding adds to street crimes and helps target killers,” he said, adding that four-wheelers usually cannot operate in crime-infested areas, especially where there are different ethnic communities.

Throwing light on the interrogation in sectarian killing cases, he said that the CID has been assigned the task. “The CID is a specialised body and will look in to these matters.” About the role of the paramilitary Rangers in the city and their relationship with the city police, Leghari said that they were “augmenting” the police performance.

“In order to control a city as large as Karachi, you need to have a big police force and we are short of staff,” he said. “The Rangers work under the supervision of the provincial government and are 10,000 in number. They really help the police.”

Karach’s law and order situation has deteriorated to the extent that foreign businessmen and bankers need to be persuaded to come to the city even though the situation is “not as bad as it is portrayed”.

Leghari maintained that the Taliban were never as strong in Karachi as they are in other parts of the country. “However, the city police took some pro-active steps and rooted them out,” he said, quickly adding: “Their sleeper cells might prevail but they are not active.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.