Employees of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Friday went on strike in the metropolis after its office in Defence was rampaged by the activists of a political party. A case against the political workers has been lodged.
It should be mentioned that armed miscreants claiming to be activists of a political party assaulted the NADRA office located in the city’s posh area of Defence, Khayaban-e-Ittehad and went on rampage with aerial firing, triggering panic in the entire area.
According to the NADRA staff, the attackers wanted to get foreigners’ identity cards ready for them and the situation worsened upon refusal. The office’s glass panes were smashed and the staff stepped out of the premises. Expressing lack of security following the brazen attack, the NADRA employees closed all of their offices in the city for an indefinite period of time.
Gizri police registered a case against the attack and conducted raids in Sultanabad and near the PIDC Bridge for arrest of the accused involved in the attack.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday summoned the Director General of National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) to appear in court for the next hearing over the Karachi Law and order case on February 25.
A bench of the apex court headed by Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja resumed the hearing of the case at SC’s Karachi registry. During the hearing Justice Khilji Arif Hussain remarked that the public did not have confidence in police as it was politically inclined. Justice Jawad S Khawaja questioned whether the apex court orders for the protection of witnesses were implemented. He said that all the witnesses in the murder case of Geo News reporter Wali Khan Babar were killed.
IG Sindh Fayyaz Leghari told the court that people were not ready to testify in courts.
Inspector General (IG) Sindh said that a sum of Rs 10 million had been provided for ensuring protection to witnesses. Justice Khilji replied that how could the police protect the witnesses when it could not protect its own personnel. He further said that numerous businessmen had closed their businesses following the court’s decision because police are unable to investigate or collect evidence. The court added that it regretted the loss of police personnel.
Justice Khilji questioned the performance of the intelligence agencies over the targeting of police personnel in bomb attacks. The counsel for the IG Sindh said in his statement that 114 cases had been registered against terrorists. The IG Sindh added that 127 police personnel had lost their lives in the line of duty and suspects had been identified in 35 of the cases. He also said that five suspects had been killed in encounters and challans had been submitted in 69 of the cases. Leghari and his counsel told the bench that 182 target killers had been taken into custody, especially those belonging to outlawed organisations, which could be a possible reason for the surge in attacks on the police.
Justice Khawaja said that there were 1.4 million immigrants in Karachi. He inquired about the number of illegal immigrants who had returned to their native country and as to how it was possible for Nadra to identify the unregistered immigrants. The counsel for the IG Sindh informed the court that federal government had extended for six months the stay of 1.25 million immigrants.
Justice Khawaja inquired as to how the situation would improve when the number of target killing incidents had risen from 1800 to 2300. The court summoned the Director General of Nadra for the next hearing in the case which was adjourned until Feb 25
