-Declaration of CNIC made mandatory for sale and purchase of mobile phones in Sindh
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that street criminals using weapons would be tried in Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATC) and those who commit crimes without a weapon would be tried by a special magistrate, adding that they could be jailed for up to seven years.
While chairing the 23rd session of the apex committee here at the CM House, he said that “as part of amendments to the law, the cases of weaponless streets crimes would be heard by special magistrates under Section 30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CRPC),” adding that “those convicted will be handed prison sentences ranging from three to seven years”.
The meeting was attended by Karachi Corps Commander Lt General Humayun Aziz, Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Shah, Minister for Works Syed Nasir Shah, CM Advisor on Law Murtaza Wahab, Sindh advocate general (AG), Rangers DG Major General Mohammad Saeed, Sindh Inspector General (IG) Dr Kaleem Imam, Home Secretary Kazi Kabir, Sindh prosecutor general, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) additional IG and provincial heads of intelligence agencies.
While giving a presentation on street crime, Rangers DG Major General Mohammad Saeed revealed that 43 per cent of street criminals were under matric, 38 per cent were illiterate and the rest were habitual criminals.
“The government is committed to eliminating street crime. All law enforcement agencies were working together on the issue,” the chief minister said while adding that targeted operation against drug mafia, land mafia and their patrons was at full pace in the city.
“Karachi operation’s success is behind discussions of street crime, socio-development and making peace sustainable possible in the apex committee as discussions in the past mostly revolved around terrorism, mafias and gang operations. However, this is not something to be proud of and we must control the law and order situation even further,” the Sindh CM said.
Home Secretary Kazi Kabir briefed the meeting about Apex Committee decisions and implementation on the topics of madaris, Karachi Safe City (KSC) Project, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and non-CPEC projects, criminal appeals in courts, border force, nomenclature change, security of shrines, katcha/underdeveloped area, and National Action Plan (NAP).
The meeting also decided that there would be a crackdown on the sale and purchase of stolen or snatched mobiles. The home secretary explained that the declaration of a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) would be mandatory for the sale and purchase of mobile phones in the province in order to render snatched and stolen mobiles useless.
Further, a `Provincial Working Group’ constituted under the chairmanship of Kazi Kabir and comprising of representatives of relevant departments such as social welfare, industries, religious affairs, school and college education, Additional Special Branch inspector general (IG), CTD DIG and Intelligence Bureau (IB) Joint Director Shujaatullah Qureshi has been tasked to regulate registration and conduct inspection of all madaris and non-governmental organisations (NGO).
“We have to scrutinise where these institutions are getting funds from, how these funds are utilised, how many foreign students are enrolled there, what their credentials are and what the quality of their curriculum is,” said the Karachi corps commander.
He said that madaris constructed on main roads would be requested to relocate and no more No Objection Certificate (NOC) would be issued for a madaris to be constructed near the city’s main arteries.
On the matter of nomenclature change, the Apex Committee was informed that the names of 62 institutes and buildings named after Altaf Hussain and his family members have been changed.
