Law and order: Criminals on parole to be re-arrested

CM wants five ATCs and five courts for Arms Ordinance to be set up within 48 hours.

KARACHI:

Authorities in Sindh have ordered the law-enforcement agencies to immediately arrest the prisoners who were released on parole by the provincial government over the years.

The issue dates back to the Supreme Court’s verdict on November 3, 2012, when it had released an eight-page dossier on the implementation of the Karachi law and order case and directed all trial courts to issue non-bailable warrants against the suspects released from jail, despite their involvement in heinous crimes. The apex court, in its judgement, had found that as many as 193 convicted and 35 under-trial prisoners had been released by the Sindh government from different prisons of the province.

Most of the prisoners were released on ‘temporary parole’ during the tenure of former chief minister Ali Muhammad Mahar, who held office from December 2002 to June 2004.

After the lapse of about a year, the matter was discussed at a law and order meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, at the CM House on Saturday. The meeting was attended by top officials of the police and the home department.

“It is not like we will re-arrest them now.  We have been attempting to arrest them since the Supreme Court’s order and have indeed apprehended a few of them,” said the District Central police chief DIG Javed Odho, while talking to The Express Tribune.

High profile criminals to be moved

Expressing his satisfaction over the performance and achievements of the LEAs in the on-going targeted operation, Shah directed the home department to shift the high-profile criminals from Karachi to prisons in other provinces and also arrest criminals who had been illegally released on parole before 2008. “Those criminals, who were released on parole illegally before 2008, should be arrested,” he ordered. An official who attended the meeting told The Express Tribune that the prisoners would likely be shifted to Mach Jail in Balochistan and Mianwali Jail in Punjab. This direction was taken in view of the intelligence reports that prisoners were operating their gangs and outfits on the outside from within the prison premises.

New courts

The chief minister was of the opinion that despite the good performance by the LEAs, the rate of conviction was not encouraging due to some difficulties and weaknesses in prosecution. He directed the chief secretary, additional home secretary and the advocate general to co-ordinate with the judiciary and ensure that five additional anti-terrorism courts and five courts for crimes under the arms ordinance were set up within the next 48 hours. “The trial of most dangerous cases must be made on priority basis with full preparation. Conviction in such cases would be a source of encouragement for the fighting forces,” said the CM. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that this would not be possible as the procedure would take at least 15 days. The chief minister stressed upon the officers to implement the Pakistan Protection Ordinance under which LEAs have been empowered to detain the criminals for up to 90 days.

Facilities for personnel

Sindh police will be provided APCs, bulletproof jackets, helmets and alarming gadgets while a compensation package for the families of martyred police and Rangers officials was also decided at the meeting. One residential plot, a job for an heir and Rs2 million rupees will be provided to families when the Sindh IG will provide complete details.

In his briefing to the meeting, Sindh IGP Shahid Nadeem Baloch said that criminal factors and sectarian groups that were active in the city before the operation either had been busted out or marginalised by a substantial level under the ongoing targeted operation. He revealed that a total of 10,850 criminals had been arrested. Baloch said that 166 criminals had been booked in 114 cases in ATCs, in addition to 4,916 criminals booked in 4,413 cases in other courts.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15^th, 2013.