PTI calls for purging Sindh Police of black sheep

Expressing concerns over the presence of criminal elements in the Sindh Police, provincial assembly opposition leader Haleem Adil Sheikh has demanded conducting scrutiny to purge the law enforcement force of black sheep.

Sheikh, who is also a central leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said on Wednesday there were good officers in the Sindh police, but criminals must be exposed so that the deteriorating law and order situation could be controlled.

“How was Farzand Ali Jafari, a person with a criminal record, appointed in the police and had been in service for many years?” he asked in a press release. “The chief minister Sindh, the inspector general of police Sindh and the additional IGP Karachi have to answer the question.”

The opposition leader’s remarks came a day after a policeman, Farzand Ali, who had shot dead a newly-wed citizen, Shahrukh Saleem, for resisting his attempt to rob the victim’s mother and sister on Kashmir Road on January 12, allegedly committed suicide during a raid late on Monday night.

Sheikh stressed that the public must be informed of how a criminal had been working in the police for many years and under whose auspices he had committed criminal offences. “Despite having a criminal record, why had no departmental action been taken against him [Farzand Ali]?” he asked.

He said the law and order situation in Sindh had deteriorated drastically, and in the month of January alone, five civilians had been killed and 29 others injured for resisting robbery bids. Also, 795 mobile phones had been snatched, and more than 1135 motorcycles and 63 cars had been stolen in the first 18 days of the month, he added.

The PTI leader termed “the incompetence of the Sindh government and undue political influence in the civilian law enforcement agency” major reasons for the deteriorated law and order situation in the province.

He said that after the promulgation of the Police Order 2019, the provincial police had become a political force, as appointments were being made on political grounds and illegal works were being assigned to police officers. He said that before 2019, posts of station house officers used to be auctioned, but now bids for posting and transfer SSPs were being made.