Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah presiding over 26th meeting of Apex Committee alerted the police and other law enforcement agencies to beef up security and enhance the coordinated intelligence work so that fall outs of war in Afghanistan could be controlled here.
“After withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan and advancement of Taliban was likely to rise the insurgency which may affect Pakistan, particularly Karachi in terms of terrorism and influx of illegal immigrants, therefore we have to be prepared to control the situation,” Mr Shah said.
The Apex Committee reviewing major heads of crime in the province during 2021 observed that terrorism, target killing and kidnapping for ransom incidents have almost come to an end, but murders and extortion incidents have increased by 25 percent and 65 percent respectively compared to the incidents reported in 2020.
However, the rise in extortion and killing incident were the result of operation in katcha area and personal enmities and disputes.
The meeting was attended by Minister Local Government Nasir Shah, Advisor Law MurtazaWahab, Corps Commander Karachi Lt. Gen Nadeem Anjum, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, IG Police Mushtaq Maher, DG Rangers Major GeneralIftikhar Hussain, Prosecutor General Fiaz Shah, Commissioner Karachi Naveed shaikh, ACS Home QaziShahidpervez, Adl IG Special Branch Ghulam NabiMemon, AdlIGkarachi Imran Minhas, provincial heads of different agencies and other concerned officers.
Adl IG Special Branch Ghulam NabiMemoninformedthe meeting that the clashes between Taliban and the Afghan government may bring illegal immigrants to the province, particularly to Karachi.
The ongoing clashes in Afghanistan may rise criminal activities in Karachi for generating funds to meet their requirements.
Therefore, the chief minister directed the law enforcement agencies to speed up their targeted operation against the terrorists. MrShah said that an eagle eye may be set on the banned outfits and their activities.
It was decided to enhance security everywhere and improve sectarian harmony by meeting with ulemas.
The chief minister decided to revamp the intelligence set up of Special branch and directed IG police to enhance level of preparedness.
It was pointed out that the attacks on law enforcement agencies have come down from 15 in 2020 to three in 2021.
The IG police said that In 2021(upto July 15) 254 persons were murdered, of them 126 cases have been detected by arresting 161 accused.
He categorically pointed out that no political, ethnical or sectarian target killing is reported. Mosrt of the murder were committed due to personal enmity.
The meeting was told that during 2021 28 cases of kidnapping for ransom were reported, of them 12 were genuine cases. Police arrested 36 accused and three were killed in encounter.
