ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has suspended five security sergeants of Lower House of the Parliament for four months for showcasing irresponsibility regarding the security, days after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers were arrested from inside the Parliament House.
The National Assembly speaker suspended the Lower House of parliament’s Sergeant-at-Arms Muhammad Ishfaq Ashraf for four months on Wednesday.
The National Assembly speaker’s actions come in the wake of the uproar revolving around Islamabad police’s arrest of PTI lawmakers allegedly from within the Parliament House’s premises.
Just after 3:00 am on Tuesday, plainclothesmen had stormed the Parliament House — disconnecting the power supply and barging into the building’s Services Branch to whisk away at least 11 PTI legislators.
According to an “office order” issued by the National Assembly Secretariat, Sergeant-at-Arms (BPS-20) Muhammad Ishfaq Ashraf was suspended “with immediate effect for a period of 120 days”.
The Speaker also suspended four other security personnel for the said term over failure to ensure the house’s security which includes Security Assistant Waqas Ahmed along with three junior security officers namely, Obaidullah, Waheed Safdar, and Muhammad Haroon.
According to notification issued by National Assembly Secretariat, the speaker also constituted a Facts Finding Inquiry Committee comprising Additional Secretary Iftikhar Ahmad (Convener), Joint Secretary RizwanUllah, Joint Secretary Arshad Ali Khan and Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Raja Farhat Abbas. The Committee will investigate the security related arrangements on 09-09-2024 and allegedly unauthorised movements with in precincts of the Assembly.
The Speaker also wrote the Director (Coordination) of Capital Development Authority (CDA), Parliament House Islamabad that “the officials of the CDA, Muzafar Hussain (Electrician), Zaheer Abbas (Electrician), Zulfiqar Ali(Generator Operator), Raza Ali (Fire Alarm) and Arshad Khokhar (Fire Alarm) in the Parliament are found involved in turning off the lights of the Parliament House at their own.
The inquiry proceeding in this regard is in process.
It is requested that concerned officials may be placed under suspension and transferred from the Parliament House with immediate effect.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024