The Karachi police removed five station house officers (SHOs) yesterday for their alleged political affiliation with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), according to police sources.
The five police inspectors were identified as Shah Faisal SHO Naseem Ahmed Farooqui, Gulberg SHO Athar Malik, Kharadar SHO Zafar Iqbal, Korangi SHO Nafeesur Rehman and Bilal Colony SHO Shabbir Mustafa.
They were directed to immediately report to the Karachi police headquarters.
“The political affiliation of these police inspectors led to their ouster as SHOs of the police stations,” said Karachi police spokesperson Atiq Shaikh. He did not, however, disclose the name of the political party these inspectors were accused of having an affiliation with. “The decision was taken on the recommendations made by the Karachi police advisory committee that was formed to assess the performance of existing police officers,”
The ‘accused’ police inspectors claimed, however, that the allegations of their affiliation with the MQM were preposterous. “I do not have any political affiliation,” said Korangi SHO Nafeesur Rehman. “During my tenure of three months and 20 days, I have worked to curb the crime rate irrespective of the political affiliation of criminals.”
Rehman asserted that most of the criminals that he had caught were Urdu-speaking and one target killer even belonged to the MQM’s Karachi Mazafati Organising Committee. “I invite the Karachi police’s top brass to check my service record and present the charge sheet for my ouster.”
A leader of the MQM said that this was all part of propaganda against the party. He said that the MQM was prepared to face more conspiracies like these.
Earlier this month, the Sindh government had announced a ban on the transfers and postings of senior police officers in the province for the next three months. The authorities are also considering to fix a year’s tenure for senior police officers in the province.
This was announced by the Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah during a press conference at CM House on March 1. The decision was made after criticism from various stakeholders who demanded a fixed time-period for police officers’ postings.
In the last provincial apex committee meeting that was held to discuss the implementation of the National Action Plan, the chief of army staff had asked the chief minister to consult the apex committee members in matters of transfers and postings of the police officers. “No police officers will be transferred without consulting the apex committee,” the meeting had decided.
There was, however, no official notification issued with regard to this ban.
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