Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Saturday lend his weight behind SSP Rao Anwar who was suspended by provincial government of Sindh for arresting Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader of opposition in Sindh Assembly Khawaja Izharul Hassan in a highly controversial manner. Rao arrested the sitting MPA of MQM without getting any arrest warrants from the court, which led to his suspension on Friday.
In a statement issued here from PTI central secretariat, Imran Khan termed the police officers' suspension - DIG East Kamran Fazal, and SSP Malir Rao Anwar - especially the SSP's a "brazen political interference" in matters of Sindh police by the federal government.
"The arrest of an MQM leader in Karachi by SSP Rao Anwar became a highly politicized issue once the federal government, on orders of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, interfered in police matters and compelled Chief Minister Sindh to get the MQM leader released and SSP Rao Anwar suspended," he said. The PTI chairman claimed that the police officer was simply acting according to law and in line with his duties, adding Sindh and Punjab Police are unable to perform their duties because of such political interferences.
He said there is no political interference in matters of police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where his party is in power, as the police are working with complete independence. The day political interference in matters of the police is over, he added, the police will emerge like a disciplined force like KP Police where the provincial government has strengthened the police by ending the political interference, he claimed.
He said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is under immense pressure due to the Panama leaks, and this is the reason he is leaving no stone unturned in pleasing PPP and MQM regardless of the total destruction of law enforcement agencies, particularly the police.