Sindh government has, so far, referred 64 high profile cases to the Interior Ministry for trial in military courts, Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Sindh, Ghulam Haider Jamali told media persons outside the Parliament House on Monday. After attending the meeting of National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defence Production, he told newsmen that the cases of attacks on Karachi Airport and Corp Commander Karachi were among those 64 cases referred to Interior Ministry for trial in military courts.
He said that though crimes in Karachi have been drastically reduced, militarization and terrorism were still the biggest challenges for the Sindh administration. Moreover, incidents of kidnapping for ransom and extortion have also been controlled in the city, he claimed.
"We have been taking measures under the National Action Plan designed to eliminate terrorism from the country", he added. He further said that the accused responsible for Shikarpur tragedy have been arrested. They were involved in terrorist activities for the last five years, he added. Dispelling the impression that police was under influence of any particular political party, he said they have been carrying out operation against criminals without any discrimination.
Earlier, he briefed the committee on the purchase of the armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and other security equipment by Sindh government in 2012. He said that since Sindh government was a party in the case filed against purchase of APCs from Serbia in the Supreme Court, it was not appropriate to discuss it in the committee. The IGP further explained that the single tender for the purchase of APCs from Serbia was accepted in emergency as police officers and 'jawans' were martyred by terrorists with advance weapons which used to penetrate in APC's body. He said that in Sindh 250 police officers and constables were martyred in 2013 and 147 in 2014 while fighting against criminals and terrorists.
Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanvir strongly objected to import of APCs from Serbia and demanded cancellation of the contract as the letter of credit (LC) was yet to be opened. He said that Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) was capable of building B7 type APC. He said that the APC import case was defaming Sindh government which was trying to import APCs from Serbia on the plea that steel bullets had penetrated HIT-made APC during police operation in Karachi's Lyari area. However, the HIT Board's Chairman Lieutenant General Wajid Hussain said that Sindh government's allegation amounted to tarnishing the image of the HIT.
Khawaja Sohail Masnoor, who presided over the meeting, said that the committee would examine Sindh government's report concerning specification of the APC in the tender. Expressing his displeasure over the absence of FBR chairman from the meeting, he said that the FBR chief should come in the next meeting to inform under which law his organisation had allowed Sindh government to import APCs.
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