Out with the old: With new name, CID hopes to go global

The department will now be known as Counter Terrorism Department.

KARACHI: By renaming the crime investigation department (CID) as the counter terrorism department (CTD), it will be easier to identify it internationally, said CID — now CTD’s counter terrorism and financial crime unit in-charge, Raja Omar Khattab.

“When we interact with foreign agencies they don’t know who we are or what the CID does,” he told The Express Tribune. “Now, with the word terrorism in our name they will be able to understand what sort of crime we deal with.”

The name change comes after the department sent a request to the chief minister of Sindh seven months ago. A notification was issued by the provincial government, which stated that the CTD will operate under the country’ newly established counter terrorism body — the National Counter Terrorism Authority (Nacta).

The decision was taken after Nacta was set up following the formulation of the National Action Plan. The name change has already been implemented in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa where the CID has been operating as the CTD. It was a pending issue for Sindh and Balochistan but was confirmed following the arrival of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif for a meeting on Karachi’s law and order situation on Monday.

The CTD currently has three units — counter terrorism and financial crime unit, the interrogation and analysis and the sectarian intelligence unit.

“It is a good sign,” said CTD senior official Mazhar Mashwani. “Now that it has been renamed, other things will also change for the good. The CTD will be operational soon.”

Currently, the CTD has no one on the posts of Additional IG and DIG CID. However, Zakir Hussain and Dr Jamil have additional charges of additional IG and DIG, respectively. The new additional IG, two DIGs and few SSPs are likely to be posted at the newly established CTD. Karachi will be the headquarters of the CTD where an additional IG, one DIG and three SSPs — operations, investigations and intelligence — will supervise the department, while four SSPs will be appointed in four regions of Sindh — Hyderabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpurkhas.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2015.