SC orders arrest of 33,000 on-the-loose criminals

• Orders campaign to purge Karachi of illegal arms
• Seeks report on arrests made so far in the ongoing targeted operation

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered Karachi police to immediately arrest over 33,000 criminals absconding in the city and to start a campaign for recovery of illegal arms.

After two days of hearing the Karachi law and order implementation case, the five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justices Jawwad S Khawaja, Khilji Arif Hussain, Amir Hani Muslim and Azmat Saeed ordered immediate arrest of criminals wanted in various crimes, including terrorism.

In its interim order, the bench also ordered authorities to start a campaign for recovery of illegal arms in the city.

The court also ordered police to present details about arrests made so far in the on-going targeted operations in Karachi. Moreover, the court also sought details about slain police officers who were involved in the 1992 and 1996 Karachi operations.

The court orders came after Prosecutor General Shahadat Awan informed the court that over 33,000 absconders had been at large in Karachi, and nearly 1,500 of them were wanted in terrorism cases.

During the proceedings, the chief justice remarked that crime rate could have come down had the police shown a little sincerity. “All this would not have taken place had the government purged police of politics,” he observed.

On Thursday, the Sindh chief secretary, advocate general, IGP, Rangers chief and other officials submitted their reports to the apex court.

During proceedings, prosecutor general Sindh presented a report on Karachi situation. According to the statistics presented in the report, there were over 110,000 absconders in Sindh of which 33,665 were in Karachi. Moreover, there were pending cases of 1,486 absconders in the anti-terrorism court.

Justice Khilji remarked how citizens could remain safe in a city when there were 33,000 absconders on the loose.

On the occasion, the CJ inquired about the absconders who took advantage of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO). The Sindh prosecutor general told the bench that there were a total 12,734 accused who availed the NRO.

The CJP then asked about the accused who were freed during 2008-2013 as their cases were disposed of as A-class.

To this, the prosecutor general said there were a total 17,961 cases that were disposed of as A-class.

CJP Iftikhar then remarked that in the presence of so many absconders in his area, no SHO could remain eligible.

Justice Jawwad said releasing the accused involved in serious crimes on parole was equivalent to giving them the license to commit more crimes. He said that crime rate in Karachi was 66% as compared to the crime rate in other cities, which was 34%.

The apex court also sealed Rangers’ report pertaining to extortionists and target killers in Karachi.

The CJP appreciated the performance of the law enforcement agencies during the last 15 days, and instructed them to continue with the operations.

He said he had read the report regarding the murder of Wali Khan Babar and it seemed as if the entire team was involved. The CJP further said that cases should be heard on a daily basis and disposed of as soon as possible.

The SC also directed that a campaign be initiated in a day or two to recover illegal arms in the port city. The court said legislation should be done to issue licenses and said that a session judge could be appointed in the absence of district magistrate.

The court also instructed to inform the masses about the campaign by advertising in newspapers, as there was limited time and that the accused should not be given a chance to strengthen themselves.