KARACHI-Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar presided over a meeting in which he approved the medical insurance policy of Rs1 billion for all the policemen and issued directives for strengthening, and renovation of all the police stations. He took this decision while presiding over a meeting to review the progress of the implementation of decisions taken in the Special APEX Committee meeting held on October 6, 2023, at CM House. The meeting was attended by Minister Home Brig Haris Nawaz, Minister Law Omar Soomro, Chief Secretary Dr Fakhre Alam, PSCM Hassan Naqvi, Home Secretary Iqbal Memon, IG Police Riffat Mukhtar, Secretary Finance Kazim Jatoi, Adl IG Karachi Khadim Rind, DIGs.
Illegal Foreigners: Home Secretary Iqbal Memon briefed the chief minister about the implementation status of the Special Apex Committee decisions. He added that the Provincial, Divisional, and District Implementation Committees have been notified in pursuance of the Ministry of Interior policy on the ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.’ The decisions taken in the 1st meeting of the Provincial Implementation Committee held on 12th Oct 2023 are as follows: The Special Branch (SB) is designated as the lead agency for the implementation of the repatriation plan. It would identify the localities, including business areas with the help of the other law enforcement agencies (LEA).
The Special Branch would ascertain illegal foreigners by effective ground check-in. The areas identified would be targeted. The Divisional and District Implementation Committees would also collect data and share it with the home dept. The law enforcement agencies (LEAs) would assess the identified areas and decide on combing operations if required.
The chief secretary told that the federal govt has already directed the NADRA and M/o SAFRON to assist the LEAs during operations for verification of illegal immigrants. The meeting decided that the data of non-Pakistanis recorded in Sindh in the census 2023 would be obtained from the Census Commissioner for mapping of legal and illegal immigrants. PoR and ACC holders would have to register themselves at the nearest police stations and the failure to do so would be considered as illegal foreigners.
The CM directed the Prosecutor General to expedite the early disposal of all cases of illegal foreigners pending in courts from time to time. Police stations: Inspector General of Police Riffat Mukhtar briefing the chief minister said that there were 621 police stations in the province, of them 66 were in good condition 315 were normal, and 240 in bad condition. He added that out of 621 police stations 272 have been established on Police land, three are on rent and 346 have been established on Sindh government property. The CM said that he has visited a number of police stations but all of them were in pathetic condition. At this, the IG police said that Rs475.862 million had been allocated for Maintenance and repair (M&R) which was not enough.
The CM was told that the recent floods have badly damaged the police station building. The CM directed the IG to get all police station buildings repaired and he would provide him with funds, but the police stations would not be made in a fancy style. Justice Baqar said that the police stations must be fortified by constructing strong walls, watch towers, and reception and all the police stations should have the same standard construction. The chief minister on the recommendation of the IG Police and Home dept approved a medical insurance policy for all the policemen which would cost over Rs1 billion annually. Street Crime: Additional IG Karachi Khadim Rind told the CM that he has started proactive policing to control street crimes. He added that the police have conducted 152 encounters and killed 23 criminals, injured 164, and arrested 769 from September 6 to Oct 12, 2023. Similar actions have also been taken against vehicle lifters.
He said illegal weapons have been recovered, including 709 pistols, eight rifles, three shotguns, and one hand grenade between Sept 6 to Oct 12, 2023. Khadim Rind said that frequent combing operations in slum areas have been started along with Snap-checking duration peak hours. The city police have also started surveillance and action against bailed-out criminals repeat offenders, and narcotic peddlers. An increase in watch & surveillance through CCTV camera networks and command and control centers proliferation has also been made. To a question, the Adl IG Karachi said that mobile phone snatching might be higher than the reported cases.