‘107 police constables are most-wanted criminals’

Following the enraging remarks of Senior Sindh Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) on Wednesday night, the Sindh government has decided in principle to cancel all political appointments in the Sindh Police made this year, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sources said that these political appointments in the Sindh Police for the post of constables were made only to please the MQM so that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) government could remain intact with their support.
However, since there is no coalition between these parties anymore, the ruling party has decided to cancel the appointments of the constables so that fresh recruitments could be made based on merit and transparency.
Around 107 most-wanted criminals involved in some 341 cases – including murder, attempted murder, robbery, and possessing illegal weapons – are currently part of the Sindh Police as they were appointed as constables due to their affiliation with the MQM.
These facts have been pointed out in the list prepared by senior police officials, and this list has been forwarded to the Sindh Home Department for taking action against the illegal appointments of the MQM-backed constables, whereas the orders for cancellation of these appointments would soon be issued by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
In December last year, the MQM had quit the federal and provincial governments to pressurise the ruling PPP into fulfilling their demands, and the issues were resolved by the senior leaderships of both the parties.
On January 7, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had visited MQM Headquarters Nine Zero and reportedly handed over appointment orders of at least 650 police constables to the party leadership.
At least 1,900 MQM activists and supporters had applied at the Police Headquarters for getting appointed in the Sindh Police in the same period.
These activists and supporters had gathered at the Police Headquarters with documents identifying their affiliation with the MQM and attested medical certificates, and these candidates did not even have valid degrees and were physically unfit for the post of constables.
Majority of these politically-motivated appointments as constables in the Sindh Police were made without obtaining formal clearance from the police and the intelligence agencies as well as without fulfilling any other legal formalities.
In this regard, senior police officials have prepared two lists containing data on the criminals appointed in the Police Department on political grounds.
The first list contains the names of around 107 constables who are most-wanted by the police in as many as 341 criminal cases – including murder, attempted murder, robbery, and possessing illegal weapons.
The list was prepared on behalf of the police’s Criminal Records Office (CRO), and the second list – which is attached with this report – contains names of 1,400 appointed constables.
The first list, which discloses political affiliation of the constables inducted in the Police Department this year, includes the names of over 1,000 constables affiliated with the MQM, whereas the remaining are affiliated with the PPP and the Awami National Party.
According to the list, Constable Abdul Ghaffar – who is under training at the Baldia Police Training School – is wanted by the police in 34 criminal cases, including a murder case registered at the Nabi Bux Police Station in 1991 and a case (No 393/2010) of possessing an illegal weapon registered at the Jamshed Quarters Police Station.
The trainee constable has been an absconder for 20 years, but he succeeded in getting appointed in the Police Department due to his political affiliation.
Another trainee constable, Abdul Jabbar, is also wanted by the police for his involvement in 24 criminal cases.
The second list contains the names of 1,400 trainee policemen who have not fulfilled legal formalities for being appointed as police constables.
Receiving clearance from the Special Police and the Intelligence Bureau is an essential requirement for this post, but majority of these trainee constables have not been verified properly in their physical examination conducted at their respective town police offices.
In the report, senior police officials have suggested that the names and records of trainee constables be verified from the CRO to ensure that only honest and devoted people are allowed to serve the citizens in future.
Last year, the Sindh Police had initiated the process of appointing over 5,000 constables amid serious warnings that highly politicised persons enjoying the backing of the ruling PPP were being inducted into the Police Department.
The Sindh High Court had issued a stay order on February 2 against these appointments on a constitutional petition, but according to a report of the Sindh government, no appointments were made on political basis, which is why the court disposed of the petition.
The process restarted after an understanding between the MQM and the PPP that the former would have a job quota of 2,000 and the latter of 3,000.
The appointments were made with a clear understanding that only the blue-eyed candidates would be inducted in the Police Department, which is already ineffective and corrupt because of similar illegal appointments in the past.