Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah constituted earlier today a three-member task force to examine a Rangers report alleging an evil nexus of political leaders, civil servants and gang lords was involved in nurturing and sheltering organised crime and terrorism in Karachi.
The task force, which comprises of Justice (retd) Ghulam Sarwar Korai, District and Session Judge (retd) Arjun Ram K Talreja and Home Secretary Mukhtiar Hussain Soomro, has been directed to submit their report within four weeks.
The move comes after DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar, in a briefing to the apex committee, upheld that billions of rupees collected from extortion, land grabbing, targeted killings and rackets are flowing in to the coffers of some top personalities of the Sindh province.
The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the Task Force will be as follows:
1) To examine the report by Pakistan Rangers, Sindh and evidences about various modes of terrorism financing.
2) In light of the findings, fix responsibility.
3) To recommend pre-emptive, preventive and cognitive measures to the Government of Sindh to curb any such unlawful practices.
The Rangers report put the volume of crime economy at over Rs230 billion a year.
While the DG Rangers suggested elimination of terrorist networks for a peaceful city, the apex committee proposed setting up a committee to look into the proposal. He said that besides heinous crimes, well-organised networks were running illegal marriage halls, illegal parking, match fixing and beggar mafias.
The funds from terrorist activities are distributed among various factions of criminal gangs of Lyari besides corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, the Sindh DG Rangers had revealed.
Following the DG Ranger’s claims, political parties across the spectrum demanded an open investigation and transparency into his claims on illegal rackets in Karachi.
