KARACHI - Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Tuesday said implementation on National Action Plan (NAP) was imperative and would be given top priority.
The chief minister was briefed over the progress of the plan. He was presiding over the cabinet meeting at the CM House on Tuesday. The officials said out of 64 cases referred from Sindh for the military courts, only three were given go ahead from the federal authorities and 753 cases were registered under the Loudspeaker Act while 417 violators were arrested.
It was also informed that more than 3,000 seminaries had yet not been registered in the province. The chief minister also directed the law department to work on Hindu Marriage Bill and present it in the assembly by next session.
Home Secretary Mukhtiar Soomro giving presentation to the cabinet on the implementation of the NAP said in order to send cases for speedy trial to the military courts, the legal committee held three meetings to scrutinise 85 cases. The committee after thorough scrutiny recommended 64 cases for military courts but the Interior Ministry cleared only three cases which stand transferred to Military Courts along with under-trial prisoners (UTPs).
Talking about armed militia like TTP and their affiliates, the secretary said 661 banned religious outfits had been identified. “Since January 2015, 447 terrorists/criminals have been killed and 41,077 were arrested by the Sindh police,” he said.
Giving details of hate speech, he said the government had adopted zero tolerance in this case. “Overall 24 cases of producing/distributing hate material have been registered and 28 people were arrested,” he said. Briefing about choking financing of terrorist organisations, the home secretary said information was being shared during the JIT of terrorists with the authorities concerned including FIA and state bank. The local government department has dismantled the illegal hydrants.
Talking about establishment and deployment of a dedicated counter terrorism force, he said the CTD had been notified with initial force of 100 personnel while 2,000 retired army, Rangers and police personnel have also been recruited. “They have started their work and killed 199 terrorists and arrested 62,” he explained. The CM directed him to submit a detailed proposal for their office accommodation and other logistics for necessary action.
Soomro said the meeting was held with the minority communities on June 3 whereas another meeting with them was also scheduled next week. Qaim directed the law department to expedite legislation of Hindu Marriage Act so that it could be brought in the next assembly session.
Giving details of seminaries’ registration, the home secretary said out of 9,590 seminaries, 6,503 were registered and 3,078 were yet to be registered. “In the unregistered seminaries 517,696 students, including foreigners were getting education,” he said.
“To improve investigation, the cost of investigation has been provided. DNA labs have been established at LUMS, Jamshoro and Dow University Karachi. Forensic Lab facility is being developed and appointment of 200 inspectors (law graduates) is also under process,” he said.
Soomro said around one million Afghan refugees were living in Sindh ad if other aliens were included, the figure would go to two million. On the directives of CM Sindh, a meeting was held with Safron, Commissioner Afghan Refugees and Nadra in which it was agreed that 18 centres for registration of Afghanis and other aliens would be set up in the province, of them seven would be established in Karachi, four in Hyderabad, two in Benazirabad, two in Sukkkur, two in Mirpurkhas and one in Larkana.
BRIEFING ON SAFOORA GOTH
INCIDENT
IG Police Ghulam Hyder Jamali briefing the cabinet said during the JIT, the terrorists arrested in Safoora Goth tragedy confessed their involvement in 37 cases of terrorism in Karachi and Hyderabad. “These 37 cases included murder, bank dacoities, attack on mosques, Rangers and police,” he said. “The accused used code names and Talkray, a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software for communication. They are highly educated with good financial background. This group has more than 15 terrorists who are active in crime.”
LYARI OPERATION
IGP Jamali said 81 gangsters of Lyari gang war have been neutralised in 2015. He said kidnapping for ransom had been eliminated all over Sindh. Highway robberies, bank dacoities have also been reduced.
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Senior Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah told the cabinet that during the out-going year, he has released Rs118 billion for the development schemes. “This is a substantial amount and with the release of new financial year, various important schemes would be completed,” he said. Qaim directed all the provincial ministers to monitor work on the development schemes of their departments and keep paying visit to the schemes to witness their quality, pace of work and timely completion.