Provincial law enforcement agencies arrest 2,298 suspected terrorists between Dec 24, 2014 and Mar 25, 2015 compared with 18,619 arrests in KP and 6,467 detentions in Sindh
Punjab lags behind Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism as the provincial security and law enforcement agencies were able to arrest just 2,298 suspected terrorists in 14,791 intelligence-based operations between Dec 24, 2014 and Mar 25 this year.
The revelation was made in a report submitted to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday detailing the tactical progress made by security agencies in the wake of NAP — a wide-ranging counter-terrorism policy formulated in the aftermath of the deadly school bombing in Peshawar last year.
The report maintains that over 32,000 people have been arrested on various charges and more than 28,500 operations have been conducted across the country.
The report suggests that 14,791 operations were conducted in Punjab, 5,517 in Sindh, 6,461 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 84 in Balochistan, 405 in Islamabad, 1,394 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 83 in Gilgit-Baltiststan (GB) and 91 in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
It also stated that under NAP, security agencies made 32,347 arrests, including 2,798 from Punjab, 6,467 from Sindh, 18,619 from KP, 3,483 from Balochistan, 762 from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), nine from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 30 from GB and 179 from FATA.
The report adds that 37 terrorists were killed during this period and the arrested men include 727 “hardcore terrorists”.
During this period, the report says 61 convicts have been executed, including 47 in Punjab, 11 in Sindh, one in KP and two in AJK.
The police also arrested a total of 3,938 people on loud speaker violations including 3,214 in Punjab, 176 in Sindh, 451 in KP, three in Balochistan and 94 in ICT, the report says.
In total, the report says 887 cases have been registered for spreading hate speech. These included 707 in Punjab, 38 in Sindh, 83 in KP, 11 in Balochistan, one in ICT, 46 in AJK and one in GB. Law enforcement agencies also arrested 918 people and sealed a total of 70 shops on these charges.
According to the report, 18,855 Afghan refugees have been deported including, 5,996 from KP, 798 from Balochistan, 11,216 from AJK, one from Islamabad, two from Gilgit Baltistan and 842 from FATA. Over 350,000 cases have been registered in this regard.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has registered 64 cases for money transfer through hawala hundi, arrested 83 people and recovered Rs101.7 million, it stated.
Nine cases have also been registered on “suspicious transactions” while the agency also registered 57 money laundering cases and arrested 50 people on the same charges.
The State Bank of Pakistan also froze 120 accounts containing Rs 10.1 billion balance under the measures being taken under NAP, the report said.
In total, 351 actionable calls were received on anti-terror helpline 1717 including 234 in Punjab, 31 in Sindh, 39 in KP, 10 in Balochistan, two in AJK, 33 in ICT and one each in GB and FATA.
According to the report around 2,237 intelligence-based operations were also conducted during this period throughout the country.
The cellular mobile companies, in cooperation with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have so far verified total 59.47 million SIMs including 18,151,586 of Telenor, 17,430,895 of Mobilink, 10,450,661 of Zong, 7,942,221 of Ufone and 5,490,911 of Warid.
It is shocking to learn that in terms of absolute numbers, Punjab, lags far behind the other provinces in the intelligence-based operations launched, the criminals netted as also in the relative effectiveness of the operations. And the figures look much uglier when viewed in the context that the population of Punjab is nearly four times that of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and approximately two and a half times of Sindh.
Presented in tabular form, the figures from larger provinces look as under :
(Period: Dec. 2014 to March 2015) (Punjab) – (Sindh) – (K-P)
Approx.Population (proportion) (10) – (4) – (2.5)
Intel-based operations (14,791) – (5,517) – (6,461)
Suspects arrested (2,298) – (6,467) – (18,619)
Suspects netted per operation (0.15) – (1.2) – (3.0)
Arrested for loud/speak. violations (3,214) – (176) – (451)
Arrested for making hate-speeches (707) – (38) – (83)
Conclusion: All does not seem to be well with Punjab. Also, the results achieved do not reflect PM's rhetoric that he will not rest until all terrorists are eliminated.
Recommendation: Get long on action and short on rhetoric, especially so far as Punjab is concerned.
Karachi
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