22nd Sindh apex committee meeting held in Karachi

• Committee decides to rename buildings, roads named after MQM-L chief

• NAB to be taken into confidence for Safe City Project

• Cabinet to decide Rangers’ powers under ATA

KARACHI: The 22nd Sindh Apex Committee meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the Chief Minister House here on Thursday.

In the meeting, the Sindh government decided to rename at least 62 buildings and roads named after Mutahidda Qaumi Movement- London chief Altaf Hussain citing that those against the state do not deserve any kind of honor of memorial.

Provincial ministers including Sohail Anwar Siyal, Nasir Shah, Ziaul Hassan Lanjar as well as chief secretary, Karachi Corps Commander Chief Secretary Rizwan Memon, Sindh Rangers Director General Major General Mohammad Saeed, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, Sindh Advocate General Zameer Ghumro, Home Secretary Qazi Shahid Pervez, Sindh Inspector General Police AD Khowaja, Federal Investigation Agency Director Muneer Shaikh and acting PG Saleem Burero also attended the committee session.

The chief minister told the meeting that the cabinet had taken the decision to rename the buildings and roads many months ago. The chief secretary was directed by the Apex Committee to rename the identified buildings and roads.

The agenda of the meeting was broad in nature that included the drafting of Madaris laws, Karachi Safe City Project, Cybercrime, detention powers under Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), trials of street crime cases, issues of land grabbing, security of banks, installation of trackers in motorcycles, standardised registration number plates and the issue of katchi abadis.

The meeting took up the issue of Safe City Project and expressed reservation on its unnecessary delay. The meeting was told that the project was started with the hiring of a consultant but NAB wrote a letter of objection to the concerned officers over the issue. On this, the chief minister said that the NAB was told that the procurement has not started yet and the work cannot be started before hiring a consultant but even then the NAB did not withdraw its letter.

The Apex Committee said that the project is most important and it must be implemented the way it was conceived. At this, the chief minister directed the chief secretary to hold a meeting of IT team and other concerned officers and take the NAB into confidence and start the project afresh.

In the 21st Apex Committee meeting, the Rangers had sought detention powers under ATA. On this, the chief minister directed the chief secretary to send the matter to the provincial cabinet for discussion and approval.

The matter of trial of street crime cases in ATC courts was taken up in the meeting. It was pointed out that the judiciary was of the view that the street crime could not be tried into ATCs. Taking part in the discussion, the members said that when a gun is used in the street crime it could be tried in the ATC.

Therefore, the chief minister decided to introduce legal reforms in consultation with the Sindh Judicial Academy. “I want the street criminals to be dealt severely. We have restored peace in the city with heavy price and now the street criminals would not allowed to keep the citizens harassed, insecure and afraid,” he said and directed provincial law minister to expedite the process of consultation and bring the matter in the cabinet and in the assembly.

The land grabbing issue also came under discussion on which the meeting was told that the operation was in progress and it is also producing results. “The land grabbing issue is being watched and dealt accordingly,” the law enforcement agencies told the chief minister.

The meeting was told that the federal government has been approached a number of times to declare Sindh police as civil authority in Foreigners Order 1951 but no progress has been made.

The home secretary told the meeting that he has held a number of meetings with bankers on the security of the banks. There are Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for security of banks but mostly the private banks do not follow it properly. Therefore, they have been directed to follow it. The security plan is being implemented.

The Apex Committee discussed the acquittals of different alleged terrorists and decided that in such cases appeals would be filed well in time.

Briefing the meeting on installation of trackers in motorcycles, Home Minister Sohail Siyal said that he had conducted a number of meetings with bike manufacturers and assemblers. “A proper mechanism has been evolved to install factory-fitted trackers in all the bikes being sold in the market,” he said and added that the final meeting would be held on March 12.

The meeting also decided to launch targeted operations against criminals and dacoits in the katchi abadi areas. The preparations of the operation would start soon and the concerned agencies would make the final decision in this regard.

The chief minister decided to revive the provincial border force. The force was created with 1000 constables in 2006 and later merged into the police department. The revival would not affect the merger but deployment of policemen with the support of Rangers would be done. The chief minister directed IG police to provide them logistic support and other necessary facilities.