Daily Times

LAHORE: No more excuses will be accepted in the Kasur rape and murder case. Police should ensure the arrest of the accused without wastage of time, Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday.

He said this while chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order.

The CM Shehbaz Sharif said that the heartless murderer and rape accused of the minor girl should be arrested immediately. He said facts should be brought to the public after the arrest of the accused so that the victim family gets justice. He said extreme brutality was inflicted on the minor girl and heartless accused would have to pay for it. He said the killer could not escape justice and will get exemplary punishment. He said all requirements of the justice would be fulfilled in the deaths of two persons in the firing incident and the accused would be punished. He said he would personally monitor the progress in both cases. He directed the IGP to visit Kasur daily to review the progress on both cases and for this purpose IGP could use the helicopter of the chief minister. Directing the Punjab Forensic Laboratory DG and the Home Department additional secretary to immediately leave for Kasur, he said that both officers would discharge affairs of their departments in connection with both cases. He said he was under extreme agony and stress due to this case and he only wanted the arrest of the accused. Ministers Rana Sanaullah Khan, Lt Col (r) Ayub Ghadi and Khawaja Imran Nazir, spokesperson for Punjab government Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, chief secretary, the IGP and other officials also attended the meeting. Head of the Joint Investigation Team, the Multan RPO, the Sheikhupura RPO and the Kasur DPO attended the meeting through video link.

Separately, the CM on Saturday formed a committee for the protection of children. Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah will head the committee that will have 20 other members including the IGP. According to the notification, the committee will holistically review and recommend measures to prevent the increasing trend of child abuses in the society. The committee will be bound to forward proposal to the Chief Minister in 15 days pertaining to the inclusion of child safety measures and related university research articles in the curriculum. The committee will also form a report about the delay and developments in the abuse cases against children. It will give recommendation in the cases that have been subject to negligence.

Turkish consul general: Consul General of Turkey in Lahore Serdar Deniz paid a farewell call on Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday. The chief minister paid tribute to the Turkish consul general for playing constructive role in promoting Pak-Turkey relationships and wished him best of luck for the future assignments. Talking to the Turkish consul general, Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Serdar Deniz had played an effective role in promoting and strengthening Pak-Turkey ties and his efforts would be remembered for a long time. He said Pakistan and Turkey had friendly and brotherly bilateral ties and the people of both countries had sentiments of love and purity for each other. He said Turkey had always supported Pakistan in case of natural calamities like floods, earthquakes and others. He said Turkey was the first country to support Pakistan after the tweet of the US president. He said Turkish companies were working in Pakistan specially in Punjab. He said from the last a few years, brotherly ties between Pakistan and Turkey had been translated into bilateral trade and due to the economic cooperation the friendship between both countries has become everlasting. He said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister and other leadership had always provided corporation to Pakistan, and the government and the people of Pakistan pray for the bright future of Turkey.

The Turkish consul general said he remained appointed to this post for two years and Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif has always extended support to him. He said he would always remember the time spent in Lahore. He thanked the chief minister for love and respect, and called him a seasoned politician.

Published in Daily Times, January 14^th 2018.