Aftermath of controversial ad: Police start collecting data on all missing persons FIRs
Officials see ‘third party’ role in newspaper notice
DESIGN: SIDRAH MOIZ KHAN
KARACHI:
A four-member inquiry team formed to probe the publication of missing persons' public notices has started collecting data of all FIRs registered against law enforcers.
The six missing persons' ads, which appeared in English, Urdu and Sindhi newspapers on Monday, claimed that these men were picked up by 'unknown Rangers men'. These men had gone missing from within the jurisdiction of Orangi and Mominabad police stations. The ads, carrying the photographs of the missing men, sought help from the general public in tracing their whereabouts.
The publication of these ads ruffled some feathers among the high-ranking government officers and led to the suspension of Orangi Town DSP Fakharul Islam, under whose name the ad was published, and Investigations SSP Latif Siddiqui. A committee, comprising Karachi AIG Mushtaq Mahar, Counter-Terrorism Department AIG Sanaullah Abbasi, Traffic DIG Ameer Shaikh and a Rangers officer, was given the task of completing the inquiry within seven days.
Read: Missing persons’ families demand speaker’s intervention
The committee has now started collecting details of all missing persons' FIRs registered against law enforcers in the city. They are also looking into the investigations of the cases of over 100 missing persons, including political activists and suspected gangsters.
"So far, we have not reached any conclusions and the inquiry is in its preliminary levels," said a member of the committee, who wished to remain anonymous. "We have asked the police stations to send us the records of such FIRs," he added.
The officials felt that the placement of the ads is merely a tool used by a 'third party' to create misunderstandings between the police and Rangers, and thereby jeapardise the credibility of the ongoing Karachi operation.
Read: Hidden Agenda? Committee to probe missing persons ad
"If you saw in the past, you must find such advertisements in the newspapers," he pointed out. "But the situation is different now. The beneficiaries are trying to take advantage of the situation. They are using the divide-and-rule policy to stop the Karachi operation as they know that no agency can conduct an operation alone," explained a senior police official.
The suspended police officials agree. "It was a court requirement to advertise such public notices," said Siddiqui, while speaking to The Express Tribune. "But someone took advantage of the situation and exploited it to create controversy." Siddiqui insisted that the issue has nearly been resolved.
How many missing?
There are over 100 FIRs registered at various police stations of Karachi including nearly 40 in District West. Most of the FIRs registered during the Karachi operation were done so on court orders.
A missing persons' commission headed by Crimes DIG AD Khawaja is working on such cases. "Each type of incident, even domestic and personal cases, is reported in these 100 missing persons cases," explained an official who is part of the missing persons commission. These cases include the missing workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the Lyari gangsters and Pashtun groups.
"A majority of the cases are registered against unidentified persons while the remaining few are against 'unidentified' Rangers, police, plainclothes personnel," he explained. "A few cases, such as the case of a missing father and daughter, have been resolved but several are still pending.
Cases involving political workers, or the ones who were mentioned in the ads, are still pending, said District West SSP Azfar Mahesar.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2015.
A four-member inquiry team formed to probe the publication of missing persons' public notices has started collecting data of all FIRs registered against law enforcers.
The six missing persons' ads, which appeared in English, Urdu and Sindhi newspapers on Monday, claimed that these men were picked up by 'unknown Rangers men'. These men had gone missing from within the jurisdiction of Orangi and Mominabad police stations. The ads, carrying the photographs of the missing men, sought help from the general public in tracing their whereabouts.
The publication of these ads ruffled some feathers among the high-ranking government officers and led to the suspension of Orangi Town DSP Fakharul Islam, under whose name the ad was published, and Investigations SSP Latif Siddiqui. A committee, comprising Karachi AIG Mushtaq Mahar, Counter-Terrorism Department AIG Sanaullah Abbasi, Traffic DIG Ameer Shaikh and a Rangers officer, was given the task of completing the inquiry within seven days.
Read: Missing persons’ families demand speaker’s intervention
The committee has now started collecting details of all missing persons' FIRs registered against law enforcers in the city. They are also looking into the investigations of the cases of over 100 missing persons, including political activists and suspected gangsters.
"So far, we have not reached any conclusions and the inquiry is in its preliminary levels," said a member of the committee, who wished to remain anonymous. "We have asked the police stations to send us the records of such FIRs," he added.
The officials felt that the placement of the ads is merely a tool used by a 'third party' to create misunderstandings between the police and Rangers, and thereby jeapardise the credibility of the ongoing Karachi operation.
Read: Hidden Agenda? Committee to probe missing persons ad
"If you saw in the past, you must find such advertisements in the newspapers," he pointed out. "But the situation is different now. The beneficiaries are trying to take advantage of the situation. They are using the divide-and-rule policy to stop the Karachi operation as they know that no agency can conduct an operation alone," explained a senior police official.
The suspended police officials agree. "It was a court requirement to advertise such public notices," said Siddiqui, while speaking to The Express Tribune. "But someone took advantage of the situation and exploited it to create controversy." Siddiqui insisted that the issue has nearly been resolved.
How many missing?
There are over 100 FIRs registered at various police stations of Karachi including nearly 40 in District West. Most of the FIRs registered during the Karachi operation were done so on court orders.
A missing persons' commission headed by Crimes DIG AD Khawaja is working on such cases. "Each type of incident, even domestic and personal cases, is reported in these 100 missing persons cases," explained an official who is part of the missing persons commission. These cases include the missing workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the Lyari gangsters and Pashtun groups.
"A majority of the cases are registered against unidentified persons while the remaining few are against 'unidentified' Rangers, police, plainclothes personnel," he explained. "A few cases, such as the case of a missing father and daughter, have been resolved but several are still pending.
Cases involving political workers, or the ones who were mentioned in the ads, are still pending, said District West SSP Azfar Mahesar.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 11th, 2015.