PPP?vows drive against Taseer abduction

OUR STAFF REPORTER LAHORE Punjab chapter of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party has warned the provincial government of launching a protest movement from the coming Monday if the dispensation failed in recovering Shahbaz Taseer, son of assassinated ex-Governor Punjab Salman Taseer. This was told to the mediamen on Saturday at a press conference by President PPP Punjab President Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, who also mentioned that Opposition Leader at the Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz Ahmed would submit a requisition for convening Punjab Assembly session to discuss the issue after Monday. All constitutional options will be adopted, he asserted. Warraich further added that a protest movement would be launched against the Punjab government from Monday if Shahbaz Taseer was not recovered. Protest rallies will be organised at district level to press for the recovery of the abducted, he stated, while condemning the incident, and asserting that the incident had disturbed all citizens of the province. This has amply substantiated the poor situation of ever-increasing crime, and law and order in Punjab. Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif must improve the law and order situation in his own province and then talk about other provinces, he suggested, in an implicit reference to the CMs Punjab recent visit to chaotic Karachi. Lahore is Punjabs capital and has headquarters of the Punjab Police, but no progress has been made in young Taseers case so far, he mentioned. To depict what he believed poor law and order situation, Warraich quoted crime figures in the Punjab, and mentioned that last year, 75,419 crime cases were registered, and 627 of these were murder cases. As many as 170 rape and 160 cases of torture against government servants have been registered last year. So far almost 13,497 cases of kidnap were registered, while 2,176 were in Lahore alone. 8,974 cases of kidnap for ransom have been registered so far during the current year, he noted, while asserting that the crime ratio in Punjab had increased by 30 per cent. The PML-N leadership cannot make tall claims of good governance in the province when these figures are taken into consideration, he maintained. While responding to a question about the suo motu on Taseers abduction, Warraich did not offer any comment, except Courts are independent to take notice. Meanwhile, the PPP has decided submit a requisition for convening the Punjab Assembly to discuss Shahbaz Taseers abduction, and the submission would be made on the coming Tuesday. Moreover, Deputy Parliamentary Leader Shaukat Mahmood Basra at the PA has submitted a Call Attention Notice in the Assembly secretariat. The PPP intends that Shahbaz Sharif should give reply to the notice.

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