QUETTA, Balochistan: Mastung property owners could be treated as facilitators if militants use their land for attacks, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti warned on Friday.
Bugti said vineyard owners and other property holders could not claim ignorance when militants operated from their land. He made the remarks after inaugurating Balochistan Police digital initiatives at the Central Police Office in Quetta.
“If a security forces’ convoy or the home minister is attacked from a vineyard, the owners cannot say they did not know,” Bugti said.
He said the provincial government had repeatedly warned vineyard owners in Mastung. If militants continued using private land, authorities could consider large-scale relocation or removing vineyards used for attacks, he added.
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Bugti said the government wanted to avoid measures that could harm civilians. However, he said authorities would not tolerate private property being used to target personnel from the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps (FC) or police.
The chief minister made the comments while Balochistan Police activated 16 digital applications. Officials said eight existing apps had been upgraded and eight new ones introduced to improve public access to police services.
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Bugti also allocated Rs50 million for further police digitalisation and announced Rs5 million in rewards for personnel involved in the initiative.