Tag: Sindh IG

  • ISI, Rangers officials removed over Sindh IG incident that PM Imran termed ‘comedy’

    Officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Sindh Rangers involved in the “Karachi incident” that was termed by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as a “comedy”, have been removed pending further departmental proceedings for acting “overzealously”.

    “I believe it is a comedy. When I think about that, I laugh. What is happening? It is unfortunate that all the enemies of Pakistan, including India and Israel, are with them,” the premier had said while referring to the incident wherein Sindh Inspector General (IG) Mushtaq Mahar had allegedly been coerced to issue arrest warrants against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Capt (r) Safdar.

    The humiliating treatment meted out to the top cop, however, had led to senior officials asking the government for 60 days leave, and chairperson of Sindh’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) demanding Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to hold an inquiry into the incident. The army chief had subsequently ordered Karachi corps commander to conduct an immediate probe into the incident.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the court of inquiry constituted to redress the grievances of the Sindh IG, on the orders of COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, had been completed.

    “The court of inquiry has established that on the night of Oct 18/Oct 19, officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fall out of the desecration of Mazare Quaid [Jinnah’s mausoleum],” read a statement issued by the military’s media wing.

    “They were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law. Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned officers decided to act, rather overzealously,” the ISPR statement said.

    “They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to the misunderstanding between the two state institutions.

    “Based on the recommendations of the court of inquiry, it has been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at GHQ,” the statement added.

    ‘KARACHI INCIDENT’:

    Last month, the ISPR had said the army chief had taken notice of and ordered an immediate inquiry into the “Karachi incident”, Dawn reported.

    At the time, the ISPR did not specify which incident it was referring to. However, the statement came minutes after PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on Gen Bajwa and ISI Director General (DG) Faiz Hameed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the PML-N leader, who was in Karachi for an anti-government rally of the joint opposition.

    On October 19, Safdar, who was staying at a hotel with his wife, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, was arrested for “violating the sanctity of Jinnah’s mausoleum” by raising political slogans at the venue, surrounded by hundreds of party workers.

    Following Safdar’s arrest, a purported voice message by PML-N leader and former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair was shared by a journalist in which Zubair alleged that the IG was kidnapped and forced to register the FIR [First Information Report] against Maryam, her husband Safdar and 200 others for violating the sanctity of the tomb.

    In the audio clip circulating on Twitter, Zubair said that Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah confirmed to him that police were pressured into making the arrest. “When they [police] refused to do that, Rangers kidnapped [the IGP],” Zubair had said.

    Maryam had also alleged that the Sindh police chief was forcibly “taken to the sector commander’s office and asked to sign on the arrest orders”.

    The statement by the military’s media wing comes days after PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif said that the inquiry into the “alleged abduction” of the Sindh IG and additional IG, and the “storming of Maryam’s room” had not been made public despite Gen Bajwa’s “personal assurance”.

    “Despite Gen Bajwa’s personal assurance, result of inquiry into abduction of IG/AIG Sindh & storming of Maryam Nawaz’s room hasn’t been made public. Does this nation have the right to know the reasons for delay?,” he tweeted.

  • ‘IG kidnapping’: Fawad mocks Bilawal for approaching Gen Bajwa instead of PM

    ‘IG kidnapping’: Fawad mocks Bilawal for approaching Gen Bajwa instead of PM

    Science and Technology Minister Fawad Chaudhry has criticised Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for seeking the intervention of army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa over the alleged involvement of the Sindh Rangers in the “kidnapping” of the provincial police chief, Mushtaq Mahar.

    In a Geo News show with Shahzeb Khanzada, the federal minister said the PPP chief talks about civilian supremacy all the time, but instead of approaching the prime minister — the chief executive of the country — Bilawal approached the military chief with his reservations.

    The minister said the appeal to the army chief was in contrast to the views propagated by the PPP chief. “If you are such a champion of democracy, then you shouldn’t drag state institutions in politics,” Fawad said.

    When asked whether the federal government would help the provincial government in the matter, Fawad said it was an “internal matter” of the Sindh government, but the Centre would be more than willing to help if approached.

    Earlier,  Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had requested Gen Bajwa take notice of the treatment meted out to the Sindh police chief by the Rangers. Bilawal said that every police officer in Sindh, from a station house officer to senior police officers, were wondering who had “surrounded IG Sindh Mushtaq Mahar’s office at 2am on Sunday night”. “Who were the two persons who went inside the IG’s house at 2am and where was our IG taken at 4am in the morning?” he asked.

    Subsequently, Gen Bajwa ordered a probe into the alleged abduction of IG Mahar. According to a statement shared by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Gen Bajwa has directed Karachi Corps commander to “immediately inquire into the circumstances to determine the facts and report back as soon as possible”.

  • ‘IG was kidnapped’: Hamid Mir takes a dig at Kamran Khan for contesting his claim

    ‘IG was kidnapped’: Hamid Mir takes a dig at Kamran Khan for contesting his claim

    As a leave request to the Sindh government by the high-ups of the provincial police strengthened the claim that the IG was detained by the Sindh Rangers for the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Capt (r) Safdar, senior journalist Hamid Mir took a dig at journalist Kamran Khan for trying to refute his claim about the police chief’s detention on the basis of “irrefutable sources”.

    The tweet by the Geo News anchorperson came on the heels of a news report which revealed that the high ranking officers of the service have sought a 60-day leave. An application signed by AIG Special Branch Imran Yaqoob, a copy of which is available with The Current, said that he submitted the request for leave after the police high command was “ridiculed and mishandled” leading to the demoralisation of all ranks of the Sindh Police.

    In his recent tweet, Mir was referring to a statement made by Kamran Khan wherein he contested his claim about the detention of IG Mushtaq Mahar by the Rangers to force him to sign Safdar’s arrest warrants.

    Following the arrest of Safar, Mir had tweeted: “Unfortunate incident. Sindh Govt informed PML-N leader Muhammad Zubair that IG [insector general] Sindh was kidnapped by Rangers at 4 in the morning he was brought in sector commander’s office where addnl IG was already present and were forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Cpt Rtd Safdar [sic],” Mir claimed in a tweet.

    At this, Kamran Khan, who is an anchorperson at Dunya News, said that the IG was “fully onboard with the arrest”. Maintaining that internal rifts were affecting the affairs of the joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Kamran Khan had quoted sources as saying that all claims regarding the IG’s arrest were not true.

    Alluding to the application by the Sindh police officials, Mir asked Khan that what does he have to say about it now. He went on to advise him not to “refute his future reports” on the basis of the so-called “irrefutable sources”. “These irrefutable sources also called me with this claim, but go and ask them what I told them,” he said.

  • ‘Rangers kidnapped Sindh IG at 4 am to get Capt (r) Safdar arrested’

    Senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed the Sindh government informed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair that the provincial police chief had been “kidnapped by rangers at 4 am and forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Maryam Nawaz’s husband, Captain (r) Safdar”.

    Earlier in the day, Karachi police arrested Capt (r) Safdar for violating the sanctity of Jinnah Mausoleum by raising slogans at the grave of the founder of Pakistan. The development was shared by his wife and PML-N vice president, Maryam, who tweeted that police broke into her room to arrest Capt (r) Safdar.

    “Unfortunate incident. Sindh Govt informed PML-N leader Muhammad Zubair that IG [insector general] Sindh was kidnapped by Rangers at 4 in the morning he was brought in sector commander’s office where addnl IG was already present and were forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Cpt Rtd Safdar [sic],” Mir claimed in a tweet.

    It was, however, rejected by another senior journalist, who said the IG was “fully onboard with the arrest”.

    Maintaining that internal rifts were marring the affairs of the joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Kamran Khan quoted sources as saying that all claims regarding the IG’s arrest were not true.

    The tweets come as condemnations pour in against Safdar’s arrest that is being termed “inappropriate” while some, on the other hand, laud the authorities for the same.

    People had earlier also been criticising the Sindh government of joint opposition’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for backstabbing the PML-N a day after the mammoth anti-government rally of the PDM in Karachi.