Daily Times

KARACHI: Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Fazal-ur-Rehman presiding over a high-level law and order meeting at CM House on Tuesday said that the caretaker government was working hard to facilitate political parties to run their election campaign in free and secure atmosphere but all this would be possible when political parties follow the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in true letter and spirit.

The chief minister said that his caretaker government had created a peaceful atmosphere in which all the political parties were conducting their election canvassing. “We are trying to make it more secure by taking some important measures for which all the political parties will have to extend their full cooperation,” he said adding that this cooperation included abiding by code of conduct and informing the concerned district administration prior to political activities like corner meetings.

Chief Secretary (CS) Major (retd) Azam Suleman told the meeting that he had established close coordination with all the agencies such as Rangers, Police and other intelligence institutions so that foolproof security arrangements could be established for general election.

He said that with the approval of the chief minister over Rs1 bn [funds] had been released for making the arrangements for general elections and he was personally monitoring utilization of each and every penny of the public money. The CM said that there should not be any missing facility at any polling station. “Every polling station should have all the facilities such as water, electricity, security, required furniture, refreshment facilities, CCTV, their accessories and connectivity, generators and UPS ,” he stated.

The CM said that he along with IG police and other top officers had visited different districts and held meetings with district intelligence committees to make best arrangements for the upcoming elections.

Rangers Director General (DG) Major General Mohammad Saeed said that there was an exemplary coordination among all the agencies working in the province in order to maintain law and order.

He said that the targeted operation against terrorists and outlaw was in full swing. “We have accelerated the targeted operation during these election days,” he said. He informed the meeting that strict checking at all the entry and exits points of the province and cities had been started.

The DG said that all the important places, public points, outskirts, katchi abadies and other such places were under strict vigilance. “Everything will go well and smooth,” he added.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Amjad javed Saleemi told the meeting that he had established a coordination cell in his office where information on day to day operations and other proceedings by SSPs and sub-divisional police officers was shared regularly.

He said that threat alerts were there but coordinated efforts and working of police, Rangers and other intelligence had proved to be successful. “We are also conducting search operations and targeted operations. We have also arrested several street criminals in the crackdown against street criminals,” Saleemi said.

Karachi Adl IG Mushtaq Maher said that around 1200 candidates were contesting election on national and provincial assembly seats and each candidate averagely held three corner meetings. “In this way the police was providing security to 3600 corner meetings daily,” he said and added “this is a major engagement and the police and other agencies are doing it well,” he said. He said that most of the candidates were not abiding by ECP issued code of conduct.

The intelligence agencies representatives, while briefing the CM, said that their people in plainclothes kept moving from one place to another in the city. “We are scanning each and every important and sensitive area [city] and as a result of our efforts various criminals have been arrested,” they told the CM.

The CS told the meeting that with the approval of the caretaker CM three intelligence committees had been formed and notified. He explained that a seven-member provincial intelligence committee was being headed by Home Secretary and IGP, Divisional Intelligence Committee was being led by Commissioner and District Intelligence Committee was being headed by concerned deputy commissioner and SSP. He said that these intelligence committees were formed to develop a peaceful environment.

CS Azam Suleman said that the intelligence committees were authorized to take congnizance of any local level threat timely share of such threats with all the stake holders.

The meeting was informed that 1001 complaints regarding violation of code of conduct had been received so far. Out of these, 227 complaints had been registered in Karachi, 72 in Hyderabad, 19 in Sukkur, 626 Larkana, 10 Mirpurkhas and 47 Shaheed Benazirabad. The participants were told that concerned administration had taken appropriate action such as removal of banners, issuance of warning and show notices and imposition of penalties against these violations.

The CM, while expressing his satisfaction on the steps being taken, said that he was glad to know that effective, vigorous and well-coordinated efforts were in progress.

The meeting was attended by Sindh Chief Secretary Major (retd) Azam Suleman , Rangers DG Major General Mohammad Saeed, Sindh IGP Amjad Javed Saleemi, Principal Secretary to CM Sohail Rajput, Home Secretary Mohammad Haroon, Karachi Commissioner Sualeh Farooqui, Ad IG Karachi Mushtaq Maher, Adl Special Branch IG Dr Waliullah Dal, Information Secretary Qazi Shahid Pervez, provincial heads of different law enforcement agencies and other relevant officials.

Published in Daily Times, July 15^th 2018.