“The Chhotu Gang fiasco and the killing of seven police officials in Karachi have badly hurt the morale of the Police,” Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami said in his channel 24 programme DNA on Wednesday night.
Talking about the Chhotu Gang, he said that some powerful clans in the area including Khosas, Mazaris and Dareshak had been patronising the notorious criminal for decades and they did not want to see him get captured alive. He said that a committee was constituted on April 7 under the supervision of the regional police officer (RPO) of Dera Ghazi Khan to launch the operation against the gang. He added that RPO Bahawalpur was given the job to apprise media about the operation but he was never seen during the whole operation.
Nizami said the officials of the Special Branch, Counter-terrorism Department and the Rangers were also part of the committee, but it failed because of ill planning.
“We need to enhance the capacity building of police by giving them proper training and resources to get the results,” he said.
State Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said during the programme that the statement of the army chief was misinterpreted by the media yesterday. He was of the view that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has shown grace in offering the commission to probe the Panama Leaks, just as he did when he constituted a judicial commission to probe the rigging allegations after the 2013 elections.
“The government is holding negotiations with the opposition parties to reach a consensus before constituting the commission,” he said.
Defence Analyst General (r) Ghulam Mustafa said during the programme that the statement of Army Chief General Raheel Sharif is highly significant in the current scenario.
“Terrorism and corruption are closely linked to each other and it is the need of the hour to uproot this monster,” Mustafa said. It seems that the government is reluctant to constitute the commission but in view of the opposition parties’ pressure it is opting for a toothless one.