Jinnah Avenue standoff: Gunman’s wife sent on one-day transit remand

Inquiry committee finds lack of coordination between police, security agencies.

ISLAMABAD:

The wife of the gunman involved in Thursday’s Jinnah Avenue standoff was sent on one-day transit remand by a duty judge in the capital on Sunday.

Kanwal and her husband Muhammad Sikandar have been booked by the Islamabad Police on charges terrorism, attempted murder and other counts. The police brought her to the Islamabad district courts on Sunday morning under heavy security.

Magistrate Sheikh Muhammad Sohail, the duty judge, sent Kanwal into police custody on one-day remand. The judge also ordered the police to produce Kanwal before an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Monday.

Inquiry committee’s initial findings

There was a complete lack of communication between the police and other security agencies as law enforcement officers tried to defuse the August 15 situation, according to an unofficial and provisional draft report by an inquiry committee.

The committee was formed by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar to determine who was responsible for allowing Pakistan People’s Party leader Zamarud Khan to breach the security cordon and approach the gunman and his family.

Nisar said he was appreciative of Khan’s bravery but added officials at the scene should not have allowed anyone to break the security perimeter because the situation could easily have led to a serious public safety risk.

The three-member committee, led by Additional Interior Secretary Ather Sayal, found that there was a lack of coordination between the police and other security agencies. According to the committee’s unofficial report, the police have blamed the Rangers and Zamurad Khan for disrupting their plan to capture Sikandar alive.

The Rangers declined to participate in the operation to seize Sikandar when the police contacted them and said the police should requisition their services by submitting a formal request, according to the report’s findings.

The committee also held hearings at the ministry on Sunday afternoon, according to police sources. It has interviewed Islamabad Capital Territory administration officials and several police officers, including the Inspector General of Police Sikandar Hayat and Operations Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Rizwan, who had negotiated with Sikandar and Kanwal on the day of the incident.

Over a dozen policemen who were positioned along the security cordon are named in the list of people against whom action may be taken for the security breach, police sources said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2013.