ISLAMABAD: The National Crisis Management Cell (NCMC) fears that around 1,000 proclaimed absconders have joined militant groups operating from Awaran in Balochistan, North Waziristan Agency, other tribal regions and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. These absconders are either wanted by Islamabad police or anti-terrorism courts (ATCs) within Islamabad, officials claimed.
Examples abound. There is the case of a family of fugitives on the loose. A senior official who prepared a list of these absconders told The Express Tribune that Sharif Khan, 31, joined Haji Namdar group for jihad in North Waziristan after he was declared a absconder by the ATC-I, Islamabad in 2011.
His brother, Junaid Khan, 29, joined Lashkar-e-Islam of Mangal Bagh in Khyber Agency after Islamabad police declared him a proclaimed absconder. Their father Saifur Rehman had migrated from Kaniguram, South Waziristan, to Muslim Colony Bari Imam, Islamabad, in 2004, he added.
Both brothers were wanted by Secretariat police and numerous ATCs due to their involvement in planning several suicide attacks in Islamabad, Peshawar and Rawalpindi, he said. NCMC officials claimed that both brothers are now believed to be fighting against law enforcement agencies in North Waziristan and other tribal agencies.
Some of these runaways have joined hands with Baloch separatists. NCMC officials, who did not want to be named, revealed that these proclaimed absconders belong to areas like Shujabad, Bajaur Agency, Sheikhupura, Faisalabad, Hangu, Multan, Charsadda, Peshawar, Lahore, Haripur, Abbottabad, Bhakkar, Swabi, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Toba Tek Singh.
Another fugitive who played into the wrong hands is Mustajab Ahmed of Kalatu, Kohistan, who joined the Baloch Liberation Tigers in Awaran in August 2012, after he was declared a proclaimed absconder by Sehala police. He was allegedly involved in the twin suicide blasts in the federal capital.
One more example is Iftikhar Ahmed of Madina Street, Peshawar, who joined Hizbut Tehrir, in South Waziristan, in 2010 after being declared an absconder by Ramna police, the officials added.
The NCMC, in coordination with the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and Islamabad police, wanted to chase these absconders who are now waging war against law enforcement agencies.
NACTA and NCMC, the two subsidiary counter-terrorism institutions of the interior ministry, also prepared another list of 7,750 general absconders. Around 1,120 of them are wanted by Kohsar police, 1,118 by Margalla police, 612 by Shalimar station, 464 by Shahzad Town police, 461 by Sabzi Mandi police, 344 by Sihala police, and the rest by other police stations and ATCs.
As the interior ministry is running its affairs without a spokesperson, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali and Secretary Shahid Khan remained inaccessible when The Express Tribune tried to get in touch. Officials of NCMC and NACTA chose not to come on record as they were directed by the top management not to talk to media persons.
Khwaja Khalid Farooq, former head of NACTA, said that it is indeed a fact that many absconders have joined militant groups. These absconders are a real threat to our security forces because they are paid, he observed. “The interior ministry must engage all intelligence agencies including Inter Services Intelligence, to apprehend these terrorists who have run away,” he added.
Former (caretaker) interior minister Malik Habib was of the opinion that these absconders could have joined militant organisations to keep up their courage. “It’s our corrupt police system which not only facilitates proclaimed offenders but also encourages them to join hands with non-state actors. Most of absconders, it is generally believed, ran away with connivance of police,’ Malik said. All rankers who hold senior positions in the police must be replaced with CSP officers, he added.
Former Islamabad police chief Bani Amin Khan said there are flaws in our criminal justice system. “It is a failure of both the police and the courts that such a large number of absconders are a real threat to capital security,” said Khan.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 2nd, 2014.
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Similarly, more than the quoted figures are from Sindh & Punjab & inspite of SC taken a suo moto notice on the issue, the police dept has not been able to give a satisfactory response to court order. And majority of these POs have been released during last govt of PPP rule.This is how our country is running democratically ?
Truly... Pakistan is the land of opportunity!!!